


BNA: Quantum

by Brotato



Category: BNA: Brand New Animal (Anime)
Genre: Accidental Bonding, Action, Apologies, Attempt at Humor, Betrayal, Bisexuality, Crime Fighting, Declarations Of Love, Denial of Feelings, F/F, F/M, Falling In Love, Growing Relationships, Hurt/Comfort, Music, Musicians, Plot, Post-Canon, Potential Romance, Quantum Mechanics, Reconciliation, Regret, Robots, Science Fiction, Self-Hatred, Superpowers, Terrorism, With A Twist, admission of feelings, warfare, working through emotions
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-22
Updated: 2021-01-30
Packaged: 2021-03-13 20:07:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 46,323
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28909059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brotato/pseuds/Brotato
Summary: 2 years after Nirvasyl, a lot has changed among the characters, and they've started drifting apart from one another. However when a human diplomat to Anima City is murdered in his hotel room, the world around them begins to unravel.Final chapter was weak, so I got rid of it. I'll post a better one later.
Relationships: Barbara Rose & Ogami Shirou, Hiwatashi Nazuna & Original Character, Hiwatashi Nazuna/Kagemori Michiru, Kagemori Michiru & Barbara Rose, Kagemori Michiru & Ogami Shirou, Kagemori Michiru & Original Character(s), Ogami Shirou & Original Character, Tachiki Yuji & The Boys
Comments: 11
Kudos: 17





	1. Ships in the Night

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! It's been a hot minute since I've watched the anime so some characters might seem a bit off atm, but I'm excited about the concept and wanted to get a draft real quick to test the waters. Let me know in the comments if you've got any suggestions!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Check it out! I made a cover photo!

Fuller  
Ryan L  
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O Neg  
Baptist  
  
Such is what the soldier’s dog tags say. Even though the information was no longer relevant, he still wears them as a solemn reminder of who he used to be. The man plays with the metal around his neck as he’s given his next mission: a high-value target in Anima-City… wanted dead, not alive. This mission is what he’s been training for the past few years. The American got transferred out of the Marines to an international shadow company early in his life. The company, belonging to the UN, aims to “protect the ties between beast and human... in secrecy.” Somewhere in the soldiers’ mind, he knew that wasn’t true, yet he was just a tool for a more significant project. He didn’t care, and he was good at his job, good at killing. He spoke multiple languages already, including Japanese, so life in Anima City would be easy to navigate for him. The man agrees to his task, as always, and sets out into the moonlight.

The next day.

Michiru Kagemori sits alone in the CO-OP kitchen, thinking to herself. It had been two years since the Nirvasyl incident in Anima City, and her work with Shirou had become duller. She had actually somewhat enjoyed the deadly excitement of her first year in Anima City. But now, it felt like everyone was changing around her. As time ticked on, there was less and less crime-fighting for her and more bookwork. She could still tag along with Shirou when appropriate. Yet, her bubbly personality and ability to get along with people had landed her with a more “peacekeeping” job from Mayor Rose. She had received a somewhat strenuous crash course from the Mayor herself on interaction in a more political setting and was now a delegate for beastmen. However, this change had left her with very little time for friends. She felt like she was slowly becoming more and more shut out of the life she’d once created for herself in Anima. Still, though, being one of two human-turned-beastmen in existence, her story and life became a vital tool in meeting with the human delegates. She was being used to display humans and beastmen getting along because she was, well, both.

Today she had to do just this.

She sat there reading over some points of conversation she would be giving to a human mediator on live TV. Even though this was her job, the 20-year-old couldn’t help but feel restless and a tad nervous. She had only on television a few times before, and every time, Shirou and sometimes Nazuna would be accompanying her. This time she was alone and not looking forward to it. Today she had to be responsible for her destiny because she was the only one answering and or asking the questions. Michiru groaned and put her head in her hands, feeling like she would throw up. The second thoughts about the meeting were smacking her in the back of the head over and over, but there was no backing out. The mediator would be streaming the conversation from the penthouse suite of Hotel Florence, down the street from the capitol. It was a very high-end place, and she had never gotten the chance to be inside before. It gave her a little excitement to be able to be in the penthouse. She wished her friends could be there too, yet Shirou was tracking down a Yakuza arms shipment, and Nazuna was in the studio, recording a single. So once again, her thoughts wrapped back around to being alone in her endeavor.

She checked her clock, 4:30 PM. Picking up her papers, Michiru headed downstairs.

Mayor Rose’s security detail was outside waiting with an idling car, something that had become more common for Michiru. She got in and, as the door shut, let out a sigh. She felt overdressed but couldn’t tell if it was just in her mind. She had traded in her more “tomboy” attire for a stuffy politician-esque dress and light makeup, just for the day, as she’d be in human form for this important meeting. She chalked her insecurity up to just overthinking the situation and the stress of being alone. Leaning back, she closed her eyes as the car started to drive away. Two years ago, she never would have guessed she’d be acting so formal, nevertheless on TV. But it needed to be done; people liked her, even though it was a bit more difficult to do for her. She had always struggled a bit with her self-esteem, not in a horrible way, but when she had felt like she let people down, it was easy not like herself, just a little less. She always wished she had the confidence of Nazuna. It was something she admired in her friend. People liked Nazuna too, but for different reasons. Nazuna had another gig to help smooth the seas of human-beastman relations, and that was music, being an idol. Michiru had sometimes been up on stage with her relations stuff like announce fundraisers and make them sound, well, fun, but that was all before -

“Miss Kagemori, we’ve arrived.”

Upon arriving at the hotel, she hopped out of the car and made a beeline towards the elevator to reach the penthouse, still nervous—her security detail in hot pursuit. The four of them eventually got up to the elevator and on. The rumble of the wires taking the elevator up to the top of the big hotel felt like chainsaws on Michiru’s nerves. The elevator doors opened up, revealing the big double doors for the penthouse, but something was awry. The door was cracked open, the lock busted. One of the security guards stopped Michiru in her tracks and drew his gun. Motioning for the other two guards to take up positions on either side, the stronger of the three guards kicked the door in, and the detail began its sweep.

Michiru couldn’t look away from what she saw through the doors, not from the horror story sprawled out in front of her.

The walls, covered in scorch marks, were utterly destroyed as the burning patterns were everywhere. The legs that Michiru assumed belonged to the other delegate lay in a bloody, motionless limbo behind the couch, and she didn’t even dare try to find the rest of him. The cameramen and TV producers were all charred and scattered around. Michiru could hear the guards clearing each room and calling out their status, but she was trying not to throw up. She knew she could help. She knew what to do. Without wasting any more time, Michiru morphed into beast form. She changed to a wolf nose to see if she could get a scent. She told herself to focus, trying her best to find it through the smell of ash and death. Alas, there it was, leading out toward the bay. She morphed wings and took off out the window of the penthouse, making haste to chase after the murderer.

“Ogami, we have a problem.”

Mayor Rose’s voice cut through Shirou’s cellphone like a flash of lightning. He could hear the concern in her voice and knew that it’s probably about Michiru. Sighing, he responded with a “What did she do this time? In his mind, he thought that she’d gotten nervous and screwed up the meeting, but the reality he got was a little more frightening. “The meeting never happened; the humans were killed in their rooms, all of them. It seems Michiru left to go chase down the suspect; the security detail couldn’t track her. There were reports of burns; Ogami, this doesn’t seem right to me, watch out.” Shirou responded to Rose with a rough growl of “When will she learn she’s not invincible… I’m on it.” The white-haired man shifted to his wolf form, attempting to use his sense of smell to detect his friend far off in the night. He knew he’d never forgive himself if he let her get herself killed, yet still knew that her persistence and stubbornness had gotten her out of tricky situations. But then again, it also historically got her into those situations in the first place. Shirou focused on the scent trail. He found her; she was about a mile from the bay and high up. He tried triangulating her scent with the one she’d most likely be following. He focused on the trail in his mind, going back to Hotel Florence and then back to Michiru. It was a success. He was able to identify the perpetrator and their powerful scent.

But Michiru had figured it out too.

The tanuki lands on the ground, changing one wing to a gorilla fist, and wound up to hit the perp, a falcon beastman, but not before the criminal whipped around, throwing a knife with deadly intent. Dodging, Michiru used cheetah legs to sprint around a container, jump, wind the gorilla fist, and deliver a mean punch to the miscreant from around cover. The bad, bad man was thrown backward into a pier post but got up quickly. The falcon revealed smaller blades from his feathers and threw them in a fanning motion at Michiru, who, sliding behind a crate, dodged them and once again wound up for a gorilla punch. But the falcon had other plans as he grabbed a young man out of the small crowd that had gathered around to film or gawk at the fight. The perp pulled out a switchblade and held it to the man’s throat.

“HEY MAN, WHAT THE FUCK?!” The lean hostage yelled in surprise.

“EITHER OF YOU MOVE, AND HE’S CHOPPED LIVER!” The burly criminal, still in his falcon form, yelled at the tanuki and his hostage simultaneously.

“Not gonna lie, dude, liver’s kinda gross… maybe like sliced salami or AAAHH!” Is this dumbass teasing the man threatening him? Michiru would have smirked if the hostage wasn’t now bleeding from a gash in his arm. Shit was getting pretty tense, and she was running out of ideas that wouldn’t make anyone hurt. She was beginning to think about expanding her tail as a buffer when -

“I’M WARNING YOU! LET ME -” the flustered falcon was beginning his threats again but was swiftly disarmed and then pinned to the dock by the bay. This criminal had forgotten about the existence of a particular silver wolf, or maybe never knew in the first place. Yuji and the boys were quick behind Shirou to arrest the suspect, who continued fighting his arrest and screaming bloody murder. Michiru went to bring a medkit to the hostage but found Shirou blocking her path.

“We’re gonna have to have a talk when you get back to the CO-OP.”

Michiru knew what this meant, another lecture about not putting herself in danger. She honestly thought he’d eventually get tired of it but never really seemed to, much to her dismay. It seemed that more and more frequently, Shirou was trying to shut her out of his business, but she couldn’t tell if it was real or just a distorted thought. Sometimes she couldn’t tell if Shirou wanted to be her friend or her father. That thought, however, did make her chuckle in her head. ‘Shirou with kids would be horrifying,’ she thought. Getting her head out of the clouds, she turned her attention back to the hostage who was holding his wounded arm, frowning. Upon seeing Michiru, though, he smiled meekly, glancing at Shirou in the distance.

“Boyfriend troubles?” He asked Michiru.

“Wha-? Hahaha, no no, no, that’s not - we’re friends.”

“Yeah, sure, but friends with kickass crime-fighting chemistry from what I saw. Buuuuut, I could have handled that guy without you guys.”

“No chance, dumbass… we totally saved your ass!”

“Well yeah, I wouldn’t have been in this situation in the first place without you two. Hell of a way to spend my first day here. First, I had to give all my money to a ferret, and now I’ve been stabbed.”

Michiru could hear the words “MINK!” ring through her head and laughed a bit. She began patching up the gouge on the guy’s arm, who still seemed surprisingly upbeat.

“Hey, at least you’re in a good mood about things; most aren’t so optimistic about going through this type of thing.”

“Are you kidding? I’m a pessimist to the core! But today is the start of a new chapter in my life, a brand-new world for me to enjoy, where there’s no persecution? How could I not be happy about it, plus the story is decent.”

Michiru finished tying the last bandage on his arm but was taken aback by the outlook on life this guy had. She thought back to her first day of fear and confusion, but he seemed to not care about that, ready to accept a brand-new life so willingly.

“All done, dude! You need a ride home? I’m sure one of the officers would be happy to drive you.”

“Haha, Nah, I don’t have a home yet. I planned on slumming it in a seedy hotel until I got on my feet, but I don’t have any money anymore. I’ll figure it out.”

Michiru stopped in her tracks, her heartstrings being tugged at by what she just heard. She could relate enough to his story to feel genuinely sorry for him and his situation. She knew she needed to take him to one of the empty rooms in the CO-OP. She’d have to ask Gem and Melissa for advice on this one, but she felt confident in her decision. I mean, maybe there was a budding social worker in him yet? He seemed cheerful enough to be one.

“You could stay at the Beastman CO…OP? Where’d you go?”

He was gone, Shirou was gone too, like ships in the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everyone was gone, yet Yuji and The Boys partied on. 
> 
> (Yes, "The Boys" are just the police)


	2. The Beginning of Something

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Michiru gets a talking to by Shirou, Shirou gets a talking to by Barbara.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Chapter two is now up! Don't expect this level of speed all the time... I've just been sick and had nothing else to do.
> 
> I still feel like it has a bit too fast of a pace, but honestly it could fit the story better. Hope y'all enjoy the direction it's heading in.
> 
> Peace, folks

Michiru pouted and checked the time, 6:24 PM. Sighing, she opened the door to the CO-OP and started up the stairs. She could smell Melissa’s cooking, but she couldn’t focus on it too much, knowing the ‘big bad wolf’ awaited her in his room. “Hey, Gem. Hey, Melissa.” She said in a rather monotone voice. “Hey, Michiru! _You_ look beautiful today! What was the occasion?” Melissa, in her motherly ways, was relentless. Michiru knew she needed to answer, just to be polite. “Oh, I was supposed to be on TV, but it didn’t pan out. We had to, uh, reschedule.” Michiru knew that Melissa didn’t go on social media enough to see the videos of the fight. Melissa smiled, “That’s too bad; I love seeing you on TV… All grown up! Anyways, Shirou told me he needed to speak with you ASAP, dear, and since we still have 20 minutes till dinner is ready, there’s no rush!”

All grown up, huh… That’s what you think?

Michiru opened the door to her fate and immediately knew it was about to be rough. Shirou was staring at the door, arms crossed. To Michiru, it felt like he’d been doing so for a while now. She walked in and went to take a seat on the couch. “You know what you did?” he asked in the deadest of deadpans. Michiru continued to pout but knew there was no escape from the scolding that would ensue. “I tried to chase down a dangerous criminal alone?” Shirou raised one eyebrow. “And?” Michiru looked down. “I could have gotten hurt?” Shirou furrowed his brow, utterly unsatisfied with that answer, “OR? Look at me, Michiru.” The tanuki started to get heated at the fact that this is always the case. She knew what he wanted her to say but never tried to say it to him. This time was no exception.

“OR WHAT?” Michiru spat back.

Shirou sighed, pinching the skin between his eyes. “You could have died, Michiru, DIED. Do you _really_ have this much of a death wish? You SAW what that suspect was capable of, and so far, Yuji hasn’t gotten anywhere with him either. For all we know, that guy we picked up wasn’t even the real perp, but a decoy, or worse: someone trying to target YOU specifically; after all, you are one of the better delegates between humans and beastmen we have right now.” Shirou let his words sink into the tanuki across from him,

“Yeah, good looks, _dad_ ,” Michiru said, rolling her eyes. “I’m _fine_.”

“Michiru; one, I’m not your damn dad, I’m your friend… two, when are you going to grow up and realize that leaving the life of danger and risk to an immortal might be best for you.”

Shirou immediately realized what he just insinuated, how he had hurt the girl with this, and how the wolf wished he could take it back. The world wasn’t that black and white; he was just worried. He knew she loved the adventure, but he also knew she needed to be safe. Nevertheless, the upset tanuki’s face contorted into a grimace.

“Friend, my ass! Leave all the fun to you while I waste away at a desk job?! When are _YOU_ going to realize that this is _MY_ life and if _I_ want to put myself in harm’s way? _I_ _WILL_.”

Michiru rushed out of Shirou’s room, slamming the door and running to the roof to breathe.

The last thing Shirou wanted to have happened was this. 2 years ago, the theme of their relationship was pretty much Shirou having to save Michiru’s life on repeat and Michiru trying to convince Shirou to be a kind person. She’d always had an adventurous, headstrong streak in her, but the year after that, she started going alone more and more. Her scrapes with death came closer and closer. There had even been times when Shirou didn’t realize she had received an injury from going alone until days later. He was scared for his friend, scared for this stubborn tanuki who had opened his bitter mind to kindness. Living with the burden of not being able to save her just one fatal time for eternity was something he’d rather never experience, something he wouldn’t let himself experience. Even if she ended up hating him, he knew he couldn’t let her down.

He decided to call up an old friend…

“Ogami? I’m a bit busy with some lab work at the moment. Can I call you back later?”

“Sorry Barbara, but I need to talk with you, it’s… about Michiru.”

“Well, then I’ll take some time, but for her, not you.” Barbara chuckled. “What’s up?”

Shirou didn’t know where to start, so he guessed he’d go with the obvious: Michiru was mad. He explained what happened in their conversation to Barbara, who listened patiently as Shirou continued to talk about what he had been struggling with regarding Michiru. Barbara took a few minutes to ponder before siding with Michiru. “You ARE acting like a dad, hate to break it to you. She’s right, it’s her life, and you shouldn’t burden yourself with having to protect her. It’s not on you to protect her, even though it might feel that way. I hate to say it, but if she gets hurt or killed on her own accord, it has nothing to do with you and everything to do with her. I think the real issue you’re struggling with is that you don’t want to lose her. Shirou, you’re going to hate me when I say this, but I think you just want her around. She opened that thick skull of yours, and I think you liked it, even if you won’t admit it. She’ll not always be around for you anyway, and you know that, so you’re just trying to make the moments count. Hell, Shirou, even _we_ went through similar things… remember Barcelona in ‘67?” It made his heart feel a little better. “Yeah, but you don’t go around fighting dangerous criminals and jumping off skyscrapers…” Rose laughed, “I dunno, Shi, I think I might still have it in me… not _too_ old yet… but I’ve got to go, this lab won’t work itself!”

*Click*

Shirou smiled, thinking back on days gone by with his old companion. Especially 1967, he and Barbara were mad at each other over the fate of a pro-beastman group in Barcelona. Then how, when they made up and came to an understanding about each other’s feelings, they shared so much more of their lives together. He hated to admit that she was right about Michiru, though. Either way, he knew he needed to apologize to the girl before she got _too_ into her emotions. He rolled his eyes, accepted his fate, and started up for the rooftop.

But she was gone…

Michiru had gone flying to clear her head. She enjoyed the freedom of it sincerely, so on times like these when Shirou was too overbearing, it helped. She had been up there for a few minutes watching the sunset fade into dusk when she remembered that Melissa was cooking dinner and probably will have finished before she could even get back to the CO-OP. She landed up on a roof to text Melissa she wouldn’t be making it for dinner after all and decided to see Nazuna in the studio. “Nazuna… damn it Naz, why’d it have to go down like that.” She said to herself, her eyes starting to well up a little bit. “I just wanted to… ahh forget it…” Michiru knew it was pointless to continue thinking about Nazuna and what happened a year ago. Suddenly she noticed a sound, something coming up from the street.

A saxophone…

The sound was sweet and smooth; it was enticing enough for her to decide to fly down and see what was going on. It turned out to be coming from the Theatre lobby, or at least somewhere around it, probably some homeless person trying to make a few bucks performing. She walked over to the eastern entrance, and there he was, the sax guy. His saxophone was beaten and old but sounded reasonable enough, and he was playing his heart out, so Michiru decided to toss him some cash. As she was approaching him, though, she noticed his appearance. He looked around 21-23, wore a worn-down green zip-up jacket with a…

…bandaged arm.

She decided to speak to him, “Hey! You’re… uh… sorry I never got your name earlier.” The saxophone player and mystery hostage from earlier turned around and smiled meekly, “It’s Josh. You are?” Michiru was a little bit surprised he didn’t know her name from the news, but maybe he doesn’t watch the news stations, “I’m Michiru… where did you find that saxophone?” Josh chuckled lightly, “Slums. Thanks for earlier, by the way, I appreciate it.” Suddenly, it hit Michiru that this guy was still trying to recoup his losses caused by Mari Itami, “No problem, but let me get this straight… Your new plan is to play saxophone on the street until you can buy a seedy hotel room.” Josh laughed a bit, “ _Rent_. _Rent_ a seedy hotel room, but yes, yes, it is.” Michiru thought back to asking the man if he wanted to stay at the co-op but didn’t want to be presumptuous about it. He seemed nice, but, on the other hand, she didn’t know the guy enough to do it for real. However, his story earlier really tugged her heartstrings; if only there were a way to be able to learn about this guy first before -

*snap* *snap*

“Hey, Earth to Michiru.” Wait, how long had he been trying to get her attention? “Huh? What’s up?” he smiled a little shyly before saying, “I asked if you’d want to get some drinks?” He seemed nervous enough not to be a threat. Michiru thought about it for a second, and considering how her night had been going so far - “Sure, but as long as it’s not a seedy hotel room.” He laughed a bit at that one, “You got it! Where to?” Oh right, he’s new! Michiru had forgotten that fact about him for a second. “I know a plaza full of restaurants. It’s right up here!” The two walked off from the cinema and headed toward the plaza that had quite a few patrons wandering around. They hopped around from place to place a bit before deciding on a Pizzanimals chain where they could get some pitchers of beer for real cheap. They ordered their drinks and just kept talking, and drinking, and talking some more.

Until Michiru mentioned her childhood friend in passing -

“Wait, Nazuna? You know THE Nazuna?” Josh was astonished, Michiru was not, sighing, “Yeah, but we don’t really… talk as much anymore…” He felt terrible for bringing it up now, “Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t know.” Michiru felt like he deserved an explanation, mainly due to her drunken state, “It’s fine, really… I just - gotmyheartbroken is all.” Josh looked at her inquisitively, “What’d’ya mean?” Michiru buried her head in her hands to reveal the truth that, “I kinda… confessedmylovetoher… and got shot down.” Now Josh felt worse for bringing all this up, mainly cause of _his_ drunken state, “Yeah, that’s brutal… and after… sorry, yeah… brutal.” Michiru didn’t want this to damper the vibe, “Listen, dude, it’s fine, I just really thought that she felt it too… She just gave me all these excuses: that she didn’t want it to come between us as friends, that relationships are messy, that we could end up hurting each other emotionally -” Michiru trailed off at the last one, “It hurt _me_ though.” Josh gave a friendly pat on the back, devising a plan in his head, “Hey, how about… I’ll be your wingman with any girl of your choice in this restaurant right here, right now.” Michiru was now the one with an idea, “For real?”

“Sure.”

Michiru narrowed her eyes, and a grin crept up her face as she looked at Josh, “How thoughtful! Would you do the same for me if I chose a guy?” Josh deadpanned instantly, “Wait. A what?” She leaned in a little closer to him, knowing she’d made a dent in his confidence, “I play for both teams; would you shoot yourself in the foot… and be my wingman for a guy?” Josh swallowed hard. “I’ll get back to you on that… BARKEEP!” Michiru cracked up a bit at Josh’s expense after getting under his skin, thinking of herself as rather clever for the idea.

Meanwhile, Josh got his new 50 cent pitcher of beer. He needed the courage for what he was about to do. He looked Michiru in the eyes, gave her a sheepish smile, and -

“No. I wouldn’t.”

Michiru was surprised, “You asshole! I can’t believe you would go back on your word like that!” Josh knew it was his turn to get under her skin, time for payback, “I didn’t go back on my word, I said, and I quote ‘I’ll wingman you with any girl of your choice,’ any _girl_. My word? It’s sound.” Michiru giggled to herself, though she thought about the idea of getting back in the game of love, but felt bummed about the concept. She didn’t want to move on so soon, “Well, anyway, I don’t think I’m too interested in _love_ right now.” Josh understood; he had baggage too. “Fair, fair.”

The conversation lulled for a bit in the drunken atmosphere. But Michiru wasn’t done, “You’re not from here, are you?” She didn’t expect him to blow it off like he did, “Huh? I told you I just got here today. Doofus.” Even though Josh knew what she meant. But Michiru was persistent, “No, doofus, I meant Japan.” Josh thought for a second, then came clean about his home, “Nah, I’m from California, USA. San Bernardino, more specifically. Do you think Japan is the only place in the world where hunting beastmen is a thing? I had to hitchhike across an entire ocean on trawlers and tankers to get to Anima City, covering my identity the whole way…

…The world is fucked up, Michiru, but what can you do about it?”

Michiru continued to think about this, about everything she’s been working towards, personally, bridging the gap between humans and beastmen. Maybe Shirou was righter than she thought; perhaps her place isn’t the exciting crime-fighting but the helping of beastmen in the world. “Well, for starters, I’m giving you a home. From now on, you’ll live in the Beastman CO-OP.” A shocked Josh sat in front of her; he had not at all expected a free home, he was honestly a little worried, “Uhhhh, the fuck? Are you sure? We just met today…” Michiru sighed, looked down, then back at the guy across from her, “Yeah, fuck it. You’ll get to meet Shirou.” Josh was still puzzled, “Who’s Shirou?” Michiru laughed, “Oh, you’ll see!” The two left the Pizzanimals, and Michiru flew Josh back to the CO-OP. Josh was pretty freaked out about the whole thing cause he was in perpetual fear of falling from her drunk grip, but they made it - Almost.

*CRASH*

*LAUGHTER*

Michiru didn’t stick the landing, but she and her new friend’s drunken state padded their falls nicely. They began laughing about it until a voice crept up behind them, “I see _someone_ had some fun tonight…” Shirou approached from further down the roof, looking at the two drunks in front of him. “Who are _you_?” he said, pointing at Josh. Michiru could see Shirou getting some wrong ideas about how all this looks, so she intervened. “Shirou, it’s just a guy who needs a home; we can talk about this in the morning, but please let him stay the night?” Shirou still wasn’t satisfied. Michiru added. “He won’t be in _my_ room! Jeez!” Shirou wasn’t happy with this but agreed to him staying, just one night. “Great, then go show him to the room across from mine.” The two drunk beastmen then went inside and got to their respective rooms to sleep off the alcoholic daze. Back on the roof, Shirou was still pondering what had just happened. Wasn’t that guy down at the dock today? Oh yeah, he was the hostage from earlier. Damnit, Michiru, you can do be -

Just then, the phone rang - Barbara Rose…

“Ogami here, Barbara?” Shirou was waiting for some more advice on Michiru, but what he got was far different, “Shirou, you need to know something… It’s about the scorch marks in the hotel room. We took residue back to the labs to analyze what kind of burning agent created them.” Barbara sounded almost frantic saying this, “And?” Shirou calmly spoke, then Barbara continued carefully yet even quieter than before, “And, it didn’t make sense at first, so we had to go back and get new, uncontaminated, samples. But… the same results… even when… even when I _personally_ ran it through the lab… it’s not a chemical agent or pure flame; it’s… the beast factor.” Shirou almost dropped his phone, “WHAT. How does that make sense?” Barbara sighed shakily but needed to explain her findings to Shirou, “Back when I was studying and researching the beast factor, one thing came up… at the time I thought of it. When we switch from human form to beast form, a little bit of energy is given off. I always just figured it was the nature of the form switch. But when I compared it with the scorch marks’ residue, it’s the same energy signature. Shirou… someone has somehow weaponized their form switch, or worse… their entire beast factor.”

“…”

“Shirou?”

“S H I T”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I have no affiliation with that Josh guy, he does not represent me in any way nor do I draw from my life about him. I always felt like there's a stigma with OCs about how it's the author's way of inserting themselves in the story, but not this time.


	3. Just for One Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nazuna strives to make amends with Michiru.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! This chapter is a little more of a "filler episode" and involves that scary thing called romance, but don't let that deter you, cause I'm not trying to write about romance.
> 
> Chapter 4 will continue the main story line more than this one is what I'm trying to say.

Nazuna Hiwatashi had just finished getting dressed for the day and was ready to go back to the studio, again, for another recording session. The producers kept making her rehearse and redo lyrics more and more, and it was starting to get annoying. They even started considering her playing keyboards, but she was so bad at instruments that, in her mind, it was insulting to music for her even to try. She picked up a picture of her and Michiru and looked at the two faces. “Damnit, Michiru, I wish I could take it all back. I wish I had just let it happen.” Nazuna thought that if she and Michiru started dating, it could be bad news for them. However, the wedge that her choice drove between the friendship was something that she couldn’t take anymore.

If only she knew how to make it right.

The paparazzi was a problem as well; even if they did make amends and date, paparazzi would rip into their relationship like a bag of potato chips. Nazuna knew that the gossip, tabloids, websites, and especially the hateful internet comments would be enough to drive Michiru into a dark place. Nazuna herself could barely keep it together with all the turmoil surrounding who she is. But knowing she made the correct choice still didn’t stop her from wanting Michiru back, from wanting to be around Michiru, from loving Michiru as a friend. And it didn’t stop her from loving Michiru as _more_ than a friend. Much of her free time gets wasted regretting how she acted when Michiru confessed her feelings and asked her out. “Why did I have to be a bitch…” Nazuna sighed as she turned around to walk into the studio. Her producers installed it in her home about a year and a half ago, so she didn’t have to leave to work on her music. As she did, however, she saw from across the street her best friend on the roof…

…with a guy.

Had she moved on? Could they finally hang out again without the dreaded awkward tension? Nazuna was excited; she called up one of her producers to say she was taking a personal day… she _needed_ to hang out with Michiru. “What do you mean, “personal day”? We have a full schedule for you, Nazuna!” Komensky, the stricter of the two producers, barked at the girl, “Have you been practicing piano?” Nazuna was having none of his shit, “Fuck off, Komensky, you’re not my fucking boss at a grocery store! And get rid of the piano teacher… dude’s a creep.” She hung up immediately after that and switched to text, found Michiru, and went to work…

NH: Michiru! Saw u on the roof today… want to hang? I have the day off

MK: …

MK: …

MK: …

MK: Read; 10:42 AM

“Josh, what do I say?!” Michiru frantically asked him after she forced them both to vacate the roof. “Why _me_? Why not Shirou? Or Gem and Melissa?” He didn’t want to be the one answering the question presented before him. “Because, Josh, they don’t know I’m bi, dude!” Oh yeah, that would explain it, Josh thought to himself, but he had no choice; he’d witnessed her punch someone before. “Okay, fine, yes, go over there. You like her, right? Now’s your chance.” Michiru thought about it, but nerves ate at her as if an ant colony were inside her stomach. “Wait, does your offer still stand? The wingman one?” Josh laughed, “Okay, fine… I’ll go with.”

MK: Sure! We’ll be otw soon!

NH: Who’s we?

MK: New tenant

NH: K

Michiru and Josh arrived post-haste thanks to Michiru’s wings. They had to wait for a few minutes for Nazuna to reach the roof, but she was excited to see Michiru when she did. She sat down between the two to shield them from each other and started up speaking to Michiru. “It’s so good to see you again finally, Michi. I’ve just been so busy recording the album that I haven’t been able to get to do anything!” Michiru giggled, responding with, “Well, my life’s not been a bed of roses either, Naz. Between the politics at work and the nerve-racking interviews, shit’s rough.” The two continued making small talk about random things at work or people they’ve met. Josh, however, was alone. He felt singled out for the most part, but knowing what Michiru told him the night before, he didn’t feel like he needed for this part. How could he even wingman while not in the conversation? Josh did like the chance to meet Nazuna, definitely a perk to coming, even if he was bored out of his mind. Finally settling on pacing around the roof out of sight, he suddenly heard Nazuna, “So, Josh, what’s your story? Michiru says it’s your second day here, liking the place?”

Josh didn’t expect this.

The man walked back around the corner to sit next to the two girls once again. “Well… before coming here, mostly I spent my time trying to get here or planning getting here. I haven’t had that much of an interesting life until yesterday.” Nazuna wasn’t satisfied by this, “Come on, you’ve gotta have _some_ interests or hobbies!” Josh decided that he may as well tell her what he considered his interests and hobbies, even though it would make him sound like a suckup to Nazuna. “It’s… music… specifically instruments… but I can’t sing, so what’s the point.” Michiru got up, knowing that the conversation was about to become entirely music-focused, “Gotta use the restroom… I’ll leave you two to it!” Nazuna let out an “Okay!” before turning back to Josh. “Two questions for you: One, what instruments, I need to know. Two, what are your intentions with Michiru? We’ll start with the instruments, though, one at a time.”

That last part wasn’t what Josh wanted her to ask…

“I play three instruments: Guitar, Saxophone, Piano. I started playing, off and on, as a kid but grew the most inside a shipping container on my way here. It was the only thing that would keep me sane.” Nazuna wanted to know more, specifically, if he was not-gross enough to be a keyboard teacher for her, “You ever listen to my music?” Josh thought for a second before shaking his head, “No, maybe in passing, but I do know who you are.” Nazuna was pleasantly surprised he didn’t know her stuff, him being a beastman, “So who am I, in your mind?” Josh thought about this one more than the last before coming up with, “One, you’re human and beastman. Two, a lot of people like you. Three, you’re nicer than I expected a pop idol would be.” Nazuna was satisfied by this answer, the first two were just bare facts, but the last one was sweet. “So, Michiru, what about her?” Josh wished she had forgotten, “My only intention with Michiru is to be her wingman. She’s a cool person, though.” Nazuna was excited. He’s not dating Michiru. But who was he wingmanning her to get? Unless… “Hey, does Michiru ever mention me to you?” Josh let out a nervous, “N-No.” But Nazuna saw right through him. “She still likes me, doesn’t she.”

Shit.

Josh sits there mentally beating himself for being a terrible wingman, but maybe he can wingman in a different way, “Yes, she does. But what she told me you did broke her apart, or at least the way you said it did. I’m not one to speak, though; I’m not her. From what I can gather, however, you mean a terrible lot to her, and she feels like she’s losing you.” Nazuna looked down to the ground and fiddled her thumbs, “Yeah, but you don’t know what it’s like being an idol; if I went through with it and dated her or married her, it would be like killing her. Being the same-sex wife of an idol would be the last thing I’d wish upon anyone.” Josh thought about this, it made sense, but one part didn’t. And that was how casually Nazuna mentioned marrying Michiru. He was smirking when he probed with the question, “Wait, you like her too, don’t you.” Nazuna’s face turned deep crimson as she stuttered, “N-No, it’s just… ah, forget it. I do, but I know it wouldn’t work because I know _her_. _She_ would go into a bad depression spiral if she constantly were harassed on social media. People like her, people like _me_ , but some people like me too much. Those people would be the cruelest to her; I’ve seen it happen before. I wish she would understand that the only reason I turned her down is to save her.” Josh thought about this heavily, and a thought began to develop in his head.

“I got an Idea, Naz. I think you’ll like it.”

Michiru came out of the bathroom to see Nazuna on her couch, motioning for her to come to sit, “Josh went home, wasn’t feeling too well, though we’re still here so we could watch a movie and chat a bit!” Michiru agreed and sat down next to her friend. They decided on a cheap Netflix horror movie that could make them laugh. Nazuna drew the blinds, and they watched. About halfway through, they naturally got bored and started talking, then Nazuna dropped the bomb.

“I want to say sorry. For the way I treated you a year ago. It was just bitchy. I regret it a lot, pretty much every day. It’s just that… I did it because I love you.” Michiru, still hurt by Nazuna’s actions a year ago, wasn’t convinced, “If you loved me, then you wouldn’t have turned me down.” Nazuna sighed, “Listen, Michiru, do you understand that if you were my girlfriend or even wife, then the paparazzi would make your life a living hell? Mine is bad enough.” Michiru scoffed, “Oh yeah, your life sucks _so_ much.” Nazuna wasn’t getting through to her and was desperate to make her friend feel better so she could enact Josh’s plan, “It’s not about that, it’s about you’ll be followed everywhere and then have your life shown publically for the world to see.” Michiru was indifferent, “I’m already on tv, so what’s the difference?” Nazuna needed to break through somehow. She had one line left, one option, “The difference is that there are assholes who’ll make fun of us cause it’s us. Being a beastman is hard enough, and there are people out there who want to hurt us for that. Do you want people to try and hurt us _more_? To say those hateful things to us _more_? Remember back in high school when we were made fun of and how bad that felt? Imagine that except on a global scale, 24/7.”

“Oh…”

Nazuna grabbed Michiru’s hands and looked her in the eyes, “But, today… we get to be married. Just this one day, we do whatever we want as a couple.” Michiru’s eyes sparked to life; the doldrums of her mood had passed, “A-are you sure? What about-” Nazuna smiled, “Don’t worry about anything, we get to be the future we could never have, just once, then we’re done… okay?” Even if it were only once, just one day, it would be worth it. She grabbed Nazuna’s hands tighter than before, turning beet red, laughing nervously, and looking away. Nazuna turned Michiru’s head back towards hers and planted a small peck on Michiru’s lips. Michiru then embraced her best friend and combined their lips in a soft symphony of warmth and care. The two beastman’s hearts were beating out of their chests as they played around with each other’s mouths, biting lips and drawing circles with their tongues. At that moment, they both knew that this was what they needed, even if it was just for one day. But when they finally broke the kiss, “We’re taking this to the bedroom.” Followed by an “Okay.” The two, hand in hand, ran to the bedroom, locking the door behind them.

Their day of marriage began with the consummation, it seemed.

Josh returned to the co-op to grab his saxophone before heading out on the town to make some cash playing live. However, his exit was blocked by Shirou’s voice, “What’s your plans for tonight?” Josh looked over at the wolf, “Gonna go panhandle with a saxophone, want to come?” Shirou didn’t laugh, “How is that gonna pay the rent, Josh MacMann?” Josh felt like he got hit by a truck at the mention of his real name, and how Shirou knew who he was, “H-” he began, but Shirou was already on it. “How did I find out who you are? I got in touch with some contacts of mine and retrieved this for you.” Shirou threw a wallet at the young beastman before continuing, “Be careful next time, and tomorrow you’re coming with me. We’ll be getting you registered as a beastman and finding you a job here as a social worker. Until then, you’re staying here; if you get bored, I have plenty of books.” It was nice to have his wallet back; Anima City is a tricky place, it seemed.

And so Josh waited for that day to end.

It was night, and the day had passed too fast almost. Michiru tried sneaking back on the rooftop of the co-op but was blocked by a “What’s up?” She turned around to see the dim light of a cigarette and the face of Josh. Michiru laughed, “ _You? Smoke?_ ” Josh looked down to see his cigarette, and looking back up, “Yeah, I guess. How’d it go with Nazuna? _Have fun?_ ” Michiru blushed immediately; she could hear it in his voice that he knew what happened. “What are you, a pervert?! Did you watch us?!” Josh laughed, “ _No_. But I _did_ orchestrate it. No need to thank me, just a turbo wingman over here.” Michiru continued thinking through his chuckling. Looking back to the smug face of Josh, she asked him what was weighing on her mind. “But was it only just today?”

Josh stopped his antics and put a hand on her shoulder, “Listen, who knows. But even if it is, was it not better than nothing?” Michiru smiled, “Thanks, turbo wingman.” Josh flicked his cigarette to the side and saluted, “No problem Hopeless 1 - Michiru.” She giggled a bit at this, looking back at Josh’s half-lidded eyes and sly smirk, “Goodnight Hopeless 2 - Josh.” Michiru turned to walk through the door to her room, when she turned back, curious, “Wait, Josh.” Josh turned back around to face her, “Yo.” Michiru studied him for a second, “What’s your beast form.” Josh smiled as if he thought she’d never ask before shifting into his beast form,

“Gray Fox.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you wanted there to be smut in the Michi/Naz section then my condolences, I don't write smut. HOWEVER, if you do and want to expound upon what happened that fateful day, feel free.


	4. The Tanker

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Terror attacks and racks on racks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apparently I've just pounded out another chapter, go figure. Wasn't even planning on doing this chapter yet, but after waking myself up screaming last night, I decided to say fuck it and write more. The bullshit I spit out in this fic is the only thing keeping me sane, I swear... Regardless of my stupid ass brain, we're back on track for the main story now.
> 
> Trying to back off on ol' Joshy boy a bit more cause I noticed that he was becoming more than a side character. I mean he's important to the story, but not like main character important, plus you're probably not here for the OC's.
> 
> Also sorry my writing is kinda lackluster on the engagement front.

“Is it in place?” A deep voice growled through a cheap cellphone. “Yes, I managed it.” A younger man’s voice on the other end of the phone spoke, “I set it for 11:30 AM.” “Good,” the deep voice continued, “Let’s rattle their cages…”

Shirou checked his watch and turned around to see what was keeping Josh - again. This time it appeared to be a street vendor selling authentic tacos. Shirou was not going to keep waiting, “JOSH.” Josh stopped counting his change and just tossed a wad of bills somewhere around double what he needed to pay, but he’d instead do that than mess with Shirou’s schedule anymore. “Sorry, Shirou… but I haven’t had a good taco since home.” Shirou was displeased, “You can do it on your own time, I have a meeting with the Mayor.” Josh found that very interesting, so he shut up and followed Shirou. They arrived at the registration office, and Shirou threw Josh in the long line, “Don’t worry, it’s faster than you think. Anyways, I’ve got t-” A rumble briefly shook the ground beneath them, stopping Shirou from speaking entirely. “What was that, a tremor?” Josh asked his canine caretaker, “No. Stay here.” Shirou turned into his wolf form and sprinted off. Josh turned to the line and checked his watch;

11:30.

Shirou knew it was a bomb instantly, but the carnage was unreal. A fuel tanker had a bomb detonated inside one of its compartments, splitting it in half and launching shrapnel all across the port. The shrapnel hit other ships as well; a container ship was listing heavily from a large piece of metal that struck it below the waterline, another peppered by shrapnel as if it were grapeshot, and warehouses along the port laid into like swiss cheese. The different scents in the air were miasmic, but Shirou was determined to find the source of the bomb. Slowly but surely, he could recreate the carnage, the explosion, before the explosion, then – the trail stopped? Shirou shook it off and tried again, carnage, blast, before, then – nothing. It wasn’t like a _lack_ of smell; it was as if the bomb just… appeared. Something was very wrong with this picture.

Just then, his phone rang… Michiru.

She had been walking through the lobby of City Hall, on her way to see the Mayor when she saw the news showing the bomb. She hadn’t been able to feel the blast from where she was in the city but heard several sirens on her way over. She called Shirou immediately, knowing he would already be there, “Shirou, do you need me for anything down there?” Shirou thought over the line about this, but then a plan came together in his mind. “Not yet, Michiru, but once that tanker sinks, then I will. Hold tight where you are; I’ll call you.” The phone then clicked silently as the call ended. A smile crept across her face at the idea that Shirou needed her help with the bombing, but she still had a meeting with the Mayor to make.

“Michiru, I’m afraid we’re going to have to run more tests on you…

… and if you can get Nazuna to participate also, that would be great.” Mayor Rose seemed very aloof about this. Michiru was confused, asking why that’s still necessary, but was met with, “I’m afraid it doesn’t concern you, not yet at least.” Not being in the loop let Michiru down. Memories flooding back of Sylvasta, she asked, “Can I at least know what you’re going to test? Blood, tissue, what?” Mayor Rose knew the girl deserved an answer to that, at least, so she gave one. “We’re going to be testing and monitoring your beast factor as you morph and shapeshift. But why, I still cannot tell you.” Michiru was intrigued by this; it was a very particular thing to test. She wanted to ask more but knew it would be inappropriate, “Is that all?” Rose thought for a second and came up with one more question for Michiru, “Did Shirou ever apologize to you?” Michiru was taken aback a bit by this, “Apologize for doing what?” Rose laughed, “And to think he calls you the stubborn one. I’ll kindly remind him that he owes you one.” Michiru smiled, thanked Rose, and went off to see Shirou.

It still didn’t make sense to Shirou.

How could there be no scent without an absence of scent? He needed someone inside that ship, someone who can get eyes on, well, anything of suspicion within that mangled metal. Yuji came up to him to ask if he’d figured out anything yet, and to both their dismays, the answer was no. “I’ve been recreating the crime scene in my head on repeat, but I can never get any trace of a suspect. It should be impossible to hide your scent like this.” Yuji scratched his bushy mustache, “2 years ago; you thought it impossible for Nirvasyl Syndrome to happen again. Some things need time to figure out.” Shirou sighed. He was right… just because it seems impossible doesn’t mean it is. He was about to pick up his phone to call Michiru when he heard her voice from behind him, “Meeting with the mayor finished up early, what’s the gist.” Shirou was glad she was there; the ship had finally settled to the bottom. “Seems you’re right on time. You know that time Nina helped you morph into a dolphin?” Michiru could see where this was going, “Yeah?”

“We need you to do it again and get in that sunken ship.”

A policewoman helped Michiru into her diving gear, giving her a waterproof microphone to speak back to Shirou, along with a single small rebreather. As the dive team was going through all the checks, Yuji turned to Shirou, “So why can’t we send the dive team themselves? Why her?” Shirou already knew why her, “Because she’s small, flexible, and won’t need a tank. The metal is going to be so contorted tanks could get stuck, and most of our aquatic officers are not exactly small.” Yuji nodded. Michiru was standing on the dock, a bit nervous but excited to help nevertheless. Shirou approached her, “Are you ready?” Michiru laughed, “As I’ll ever be!” Shirou nodded and gave the thumbs up. Police officers attached the lifeline to Michiru as she morphed into dolphin form and dove into the water. It was darker than she expected, even with her shoulder-mounted flashlight, yet nevertheless, she was able to find her way to the ship. “Alright Michiru, the bomb was located on C deck, portside, middle nacelle. Of course, the blast destroyed that whole section, so try to find a path that would lead to it and investigate that.”

“Copy.”

Michiru swam into the gaping hole left by the bomb and started for the C Deck. Even though she knew she was safe, she was too creeped out by the experience. It was so ghostly seeing the feint rips and tears in the metal of the hulking ship. Most of the boat appeared to be fuel nacelles, so finding the maintenance pathways that ran along them was pretty easy once she swam down far enough. “Shirou, should I try the front or the back of the ship first?” The underwater radio crackled back to her, “the back, that’s where all the crew quarters are.” Michiru began down through the waves of shrapnel and warped steel. Navigating the hallway was treacherous, occasionally scraping herself if she wasn’t careful. Yet there it seemed to be, a hole sizable enough for a person to get through. She reported it back to Shirou, who told her to get out of there and come back up, but when she turned around, she almost screamed, sitting mangled amongst the metal, was a body…

…with an unrecognizably scorched face.

“Are you sure?” Shirou asked; he needed to know. “YES,” Michiru told him. Shirou swore softly beneath his breath. “Yuji, is the suspect from the hotel murders still locked up?” Yuji looked confused but said that he was. Either this was coincidental that the blast scorched the body, or there’s more to the situation than previously thought. “Michiru, do you see scorch marks anywhere?” Michiru looked around for a second but then saw it, “Yes, almost at the ceiling, with a head shaped gap in the middle.” Shirou was worried; either there were more of these guys, or they still hadn’t caught the one. “Does the metal around the entry hole seem fused too?” Michiru turned back around and went to the hole, “Yes, it is.”

“Michiru, come on up, good job.”

After Michiru dried off and got back in her regular clothes, Shirou asked if she wanted to get lunch, she agreed. Shirou knew he needed to apologize for being such an overprotective dick to the girl and felt like this was as good an opportunity as he would get. They walked for a bit in silence, Michiru chalking it up to Shirou trying to figure out the mystery of the scorch marks, but when he broke the silence, that wasn’t it at all… “Michiru, I’m sorry. I’m sorry I’ve been treating you like you shouldn’t be able to decide your fate. Your decisions are yours to make… I’m just worried I’ll lose you. Don’t let this go to your head, but you’re pretty helpful to have around.” Michiru was in awe that Shirou actually apologized but then remembered what Rose said earlier that day, “The mayor had to remind you, didn’t she?” Shirou was mildly surprised she knew about Rose and his conversation the other day, “Actually no, we talked once, but she never had to remind me.” Michiru liked that and laughed a little, “So you do have a heart!” and then hugged him, “Thanks, big guy.” Shirou, not really being a touchy/feely person, rolled his eyes at the hug but then reciprocated, just to be polite. Continuing to walk, the two beastmen struck up a casual conversation on the way to lunch.

Meanwhile, across town…

“Nazuna, you will _have_ to learn the keyboard for live performances.” Komensky was severe, “Instruments are the only thing that’ll set you apart from other idols.” Nazuna rolled her eyes, “Hey Cockmensky, you forget that I’m one of two human-beastmen in existence or something? Pretty sure that sets me apart.” Komensky was unphased; he was used to it, “Yeah, but when that wears off, what’re your plans, just to stop being an idol?” Nazuna didn’t care; her mind was elsewhere, thinking about the day before. The wonderful experience with Michiru, such a pleasant day. She got so giddy thinking about how they’d finally had their chance at love, all thanks to that new guy… who _plays the keyboard!_ Had she met someone who could teach her? Maybe. But she didn’t have his number, did he even have a phone? “I’ll come back by when you want to respond,” Komensky said, shaking his head and exiting the studio to leave the apartment.

Nazuna couldn’t give less of a shit.

She decided to head over to the co-op to see if he was there. She was a bit nervous about asking for a favor after he’d volunteered such a big one. But she digressed and texted Melissa, asking if it was okay for her to fly over to the co-op. The answer was yes, so she headed up to her roof and crossed over to theirs, letting herself in through the top door and heading downstairs to the living room. “Hey, Nazuna! Long time no see!” Gem said, sitting on the couch and reading the paper, “Did you hear about the ship that sunk? How awful…” Nazuna had not heard about that day’s incident at the port; she’d been in the studio all day. “Hey Gem! What happened to the ship?” Gem shook his head in disgust at the event, “They’re saying a bomb went off inside a fuel tanker, cracked wide open, and sunk another ship in the crossfire.” A terrorist attack? Again? Either way, as much as she liked him, talking to Gem wasn’t the reason she came by. “Hey Gem, is the new guy around? I need to ask him something.” Gem sat up and thought for a minute, “No… I don’t think so…

… but I can give you his number.”

NH: Hey, it’s Nazuna. I’ve got a question

JM: Ye, what’s up

NH: Could u teach me piano?

JM: Ye, how much u paying me?

NH: LOL

JM: I’m serious… got no job rn

NH: Oh, uh, 20 an hour?

JM: When do we start?

NH: ASAP

“Alright, what scales do you know?” Josh asked the pink-haired girl sitting in front of an electronic keyboard. “Uhhh, I know this one.” Nazuna played the scale, “Alright, that’s C Major, the most basic one. Any others?” Nazuna shook her head. Josh now knew he was in it for the long haul. “Okay, let’s take a different approach. What do you need to learn to play?” Nazuna handed him the sheet music. Josh looked across each sheet, “G C D A, C A D C, G A D A. And just whole notes, quarter notes, and some rests on each one. Wow, okay, that’s exceedingly simple. Mind if I ask how they were teaching you before?” Nazuna laughed, “They weren’t, really. Most of them were just super strict. The ones who weren’t just gawked at me and tried to hold my hands while I played.” Josh nodded, stifling a laugh, “Ah, the ol’ Ghost – Pottery Scene trick… never works. Well, how about I play down here in the low notes, and you play up there in the high notes, and I teach you only what you need to play live… sound good?” Nazuna smiled and nodded, feeling like he might be someone who’d finally teach her piano, “OH! Can you teach me to play _this,_ though?” Nazuna handed a piece of sheet music, “Night Running, huh. Yeah, I can try it. Gonna need more than just the low notes, though.” Nazuna chuckled lightly, “Well, as long as you’re not holding my hands, then, by all means, steal them away from me.” Josh rubbed his hands together and smiled sheepishly, “Well then, let’s get to it. You’ll learn these in no time.”

“Who are you?”

Komensky stood in the doorway of the studio space, “I -” Josh started before immediately being cut off by Nazuna, “He’s my new piano teacher, whether you like it or not, Komensky!” Komensky rolled his eyes, “Yeah, well, what qualifications does he have? The others were concert pianists! How can this random dude over here be better than the last guy?!” Nazuna stood up, “Because he’s not a fucking gross creep or some kind of strict asshole is how!” Komensky backed off and sighed, “Fine, but if he fucks up, he’s gone.” Nazuna let out an exasperated noise “You’re literally the worst, Komensky! Get out of here!” Komensky did just that, typing in his cellphone all the way to the door and shaking his head. Josh looked at Nazuna, “Is he _your_ Shirou?” Nazuna cracked a smile, “Nah, he’s just a fucking dick. Shirou is my Shirou too.” Nazuna then switched to beast form, “Let’s practice then, shall we?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Want to clarify, that when I mean no smell/scent, I don't mean it like Mr. Yaba, where all smell dissapeared, but just that of the culprit. Think active camouflage from halo, or a chameleon, I guess.
> 
> Don't worry, Yuji wasn't at the tanker without The Boys, Yuji always brings The Boys. Yuji and The Boys partied hard at the tanker.


	5. The Skyscraper

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Michiru and Nazuna head to get tested while Shirou comes to a conclusion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, if you're sensitive about topics such as 9/11, then you might have a hard time once you get to Shirou's part in the chapter. Just be careful. The first part, Michi/Naz, fun and light however.
> 
> If you're wondering how I pump these out so fast, that's a story in and of it's own ; )

“Yeah, so I know almost all the chords, just have to get the timing down!” Nazuna said to Michiru as they were en route to the medical center. “Uh-huh, and how long did he say that’ll take you, Miss Musician?” Michiru was poking fun at her friend, “He said it’d be up to how much I practice. He also said I should play with a backing track of the song, so I get the rhythm down.” Nazuna wasn’t as playful about it, yet she was excited… especially because Komensky would get off her back. Komensky was strict, but she knew he wasn’t unreasonable either. She knew they only got into arguments because each one thought they were always in the right. When it came down to it, Komensky would make sure to do what was right for Nazuna by ultimately listening to her decision, even though he knew she needed to uphold and expand her brand as a musician. Nazuna sighed and looked back at Michiru, who was staring out the window. “So… we just best friends again?” Michiru asked as she turned around to Nazuna, who looked kind of melancholy, “Yeah… but we’re not gonna pretend like what happened didn’t happen either.” Nazuna said with a smirk. “Never planned on it!” Michiru responded with a laugh before continuing, “Sorry if I never tried to see your side of the rejection before, it… makes sense, and you were right… if I weren’t me, we probably could be with each other, but I would never be able to handle such social media abuse. I checked the internet and saw what people were saying about me already from my TV interviews…” A single tear rolled down the tanuki’s face, then another. “Nazuna? How do you deal with all that?”

Nazuna felt upset to see her friend cry.

Leaning in to hug her, Nazuna spoke into the tanuki’s ear, “I don’t… It hurts me too; I just have gotten good at pretending like it doesn’t.” they broke the embrace and returned to their original positions in the back seat of the car. Nazuna needed something to turn her friend’s frown upside down, “Okay… fuck, marry, kill: Shirou, Mayor Rose, and… Josh.” Michiru started laughing, “Nazuna, that’s an impossible one! How do you expect me to choose between those people!?” Nazuna smirked and shrugged, “You just gotta, there are no wrong answers here.” Michiru hadn’t played this game since high school and was struggling to decide, “Okay… marry the mayor for sure…” Nazuna laughed, “good choice, good choice, but now you gotta choose to either fuck or kill Shirou, that’s rough, dude.” Michiru blushed at the box she’d gotten herself into, but even still, it _was_ the point of the game. “Fuck…” Nazuna’s expression lit up, and she raised both eyebrows, “You’d _FUCK_ Shirou?!” Michiru’s face turned a deep crimson as she sunk into her seat, “NO! Fuck as in, like, ‘fuck; this choice is hard’!” Nazuna laughed, “You still have to choose…” Michiru thought about it some more before finding what she believed to be a way out, “Okay, _KILL_ Shirou, and since he’s immortal, he wouldn’t actually die.” Michiru crossed her arms victoriously at the loophole she found. “So, you’d fuck Josh then.” Michiru uncrossed her arms and buried her head in her hands, face still vermillion. “Not _really!_ I just didn’t want to kill anyone!” Nazuna was enjoying herself, so she stabbed back once more with a non-truth to see how Michiru would react, “Oh, don’t play dumb with me, I’ve seen the ways you look at him.~” Michiru rolled her eyes, “As if! He’s just a friend, Naz…” Nazuna backed off but was still chuckling to herself about the game.

“Ladies, we’ve arrived.”

The two beastmen got out of the car and were escorted into the medical center by a combination of Mayor Rose’s security and Nazuna’s security… making the situation feel a lot tenser than it needed to be. Michiru and Nazuna exchanged glances; still in the afterglow of the ‘fuck, marry, kill’ game, they were a little giggly coming into the facility. “Hey, Naz.” Michiru whispered, “Yeah?” Nazuna whispered back. Michiru stifled a laugh, “Fuck, marry, kill: same people.” Nazuna blushed and stifled a laugh of her own. They got into the elevator, then Nazuna said, “Wait, can we go up alone?” The security guards looked at each other and shrugged, knowing the inside of the building was safe, they didn’t see why not. The two girls closed the door, Nazuna turning to Michiru, “Alright, first off… I’d fuck Shirou. That man is 1000 years old and probably has _insane_ experience.” Michiru almost snorted; she laughed so hard and fast. “You _cannot_ be serious!” she almost screamed at her friend. “Deadly, and he’s probably packing heat if you know what I mean.” Nazuna was smiling ear to ear as she watched Michiru’s soul leave her body right in front of her. Michiru needed a comeback and found one, “Y’know Nazuna, that was a pretty quick response. Do you _often_ think of Shirou in this way?” Now it was Nazuna’s turn to blush a deep red, “No, I just would assume by looking at him that-” Michiru cut her off with, “Oh, is that so? Just by _looking at him?_ Well, I’d be happy to set you two up on a date~” Nazuna rolled her eyes, “Don’t you dare tell me you’ve never thought about him like that…” Michiru rolled hers back at Nazuna, “I’ve lived with him for three years, and I’ve never once thought of him like that.” Nazuna scoffed, “That’s the biggest lie I’ve ever heard you say in my life!” Michiru blushed again, “Nuh-uh. One random dream doesn’t mean I like thinking about Shirou’s dick! Unlike _someone_ I know!”

*Ding*

The elevator door slid open, revealing the two girls’ blushing mess to Mayor Rose and her assistant, making them blush even more. The two looked at each other, then back at Mayor Rose, “Uhh… h-hey Mayor Rose. You ready for us?” Mayor rose chuckled sweetly, “Don’t worry, we don’t record audio in the elevators. Follow me, please.” The four of them meandered down the hallway towards one of the rooms, “I’ll let you two head in there and get changed into your gowns, knock when you’re ready.” Michiru and Nazuna walked into the room and shut the door behind them. “I feel like I’m going to have a heart attack. Do you think she heard us?” Michiru asked, heart beating like crazy. Nazuna began undressing to put on the gown, “Of course she heard us; why else would she have made the elevator audio comment… But at least _now_ I know who I’m going to kill.” Michiru laughed, “Is it Mayor Rose, by chance?” Nazuna looked her dead in the eyes, “Of course. We can’t let all that get back to Shirou.” They both laughed for a bit at this while putting on their gowns, “So then you’d marry Josh?” Nazuna hadn’t even thought about that part yet, but he was the last one left. “Well shit, I guess I’ll be marrying Josh, but will it be before or after you fuck him. _That’s_ the question.” Michiru sighed, “Shut up…”

*Knock Knock*

Rose opened the door to the gowned beastmen and told them to follow again. They turned down several hallways, eventually coming to a massive double door. “I’m sure you remember this room, Michiru. It was the one that Alan had used to study the Nirvasyl patient. Don’t worry; we retrofitted it with new equipment, which now serves a completely different purpose. I just wanted to warn you in case of any memories that might surface.” They entered the renovated control room, full of doctors and technicians operating different stations. However, Michiru still got flashbacks when Shirou attacked Alan Sylvasta, yet Rose was right; it had changed. Instead of the operating table, there were two poles on the edge of a circle. About 6 feet wide and 10 feet tall. Different machines were surrounding the central one, all hooked up together in a crescent. “So, who wants to go first? Don’t worry; it’s less dangerous than a CT scan.” Rose asked, looking at the two girls. To Michiru’s surprise, Nazuna volunteered immediately, “Just tell me what to do, and I’ll do it. Let’s get this over with.” Some of the operators instructed Nazuna to stand in the center and wait for the machine to turn on. Once on, the poles lit up and started spinning around her, slowly at first, but they sped up to a steady pace of about seven mph. A voice came on the intercom, “Morph into your beast form, then back out again” Nazuna did so. From Michiru’s perspective, she could see the technicians studying some form of data as it came in from her morphing. The intercom came back on, “Alright, now shape-shift into wings” Nazuna did so, then they kept moving on to different forms she could utilize. By the time it was Michiru’s turn, Nazuna seemed exhausted; as they passed each other, she gave Michiru a somewhat pained glance. Michiru knew that she was exhausted from morphing and that it was now Michiru’s turn to feel the same. Little did they know they would be doing this all day.

Meanwhile, at the city council, Shirou was going through documents.

He had become suspicious of anyone recently registered to the city, but many people went through. He still couldn’t figure out how this “scent chameleon” was pulling off his attacks. He needed to find any info that didn’t add up, no matter how long it took. But he couldn’t shake the feeling about how random the attacks were, how the attacks were not aimed at anyone important. It felt like Sylvasta all over again, but it was looser, more sporadic. It was as if they were just trying to scare people, without any actual target in mind. Something was fishy about all this. Shirou knew terror; he knew that a terrorist group typically would do it in one of two ways: One, specific people or organizations targeted, or Two, a significant amount of people targeted. Neither of these lined up with the tanker explosion. The killing of the humans almost made sense if it was a beastman trying to stop human integration. Still, the tanker… it killed only eight people, and nothing within either sunken ship’s manifesto tied it to crime, human coercion, or anything important. Most of what was lost was gas in the bombed ship. Shirou couldn’t figure out why…

… unless it was a decoy for something else, a way to keep authorities occupied.

Shirou stopped looking through the files of new beastmen and called Yuji. “Tachiki, you’ve got to get the boys off the tanker case; it’s a dead end. Something else is about to go down, something bigger. They’re just trying to get us to turn a blind eye.” Yuji understood. He’d seen this kind of thing before on a smaller scale and told Shirou that he’d take the boys off the case immediately and keep them on alert status for any suspicious activity. City patrols and guarding potential targets will now be their jobs. “And Yuji, I want some detectives to continue searching for the suspect. If we can nip this in the bud, then we might be able to stop what’s coming next. Thank you.” Shirou hung up the phone as he passed by one of the City Hall’s windows. As he did, a bright blue and orange flash appeared in the distance, catching his attention. As he turned, he heard it; he listened to the blast. Watching helplessly, he witnessed the explosion tear through one of the new half-built skyscrapers being constructed to deal with an ever-increasing population in Anima City, leaving a black cloud that gushed from it.

Was this it? Or just another ruse?

By the time the silver wolf arrived, the skyscraper was starting to fall apart. Everyone who could be evacuated by first responders on the inside was already evacuated. According to some of the first responders, there were still people trapped inside. They said it was too late for him to enter and that it would collapse any second, but Shirou had to try. He sprinted inside and up 54 flights of stairs. He grimaced in pain as the heat started to burn his body. He felt like he couldn’t breathe due to all the smoke. He pulled his black turtleneck up over his face as a shield as he made his way above the flames to the people still trapped inside. Most of them were huddled in the corner farthest from the fire; 6 others were hanging out the windows or were on balconies to avoid the heat as well. A total of 21 people were up there. He knew he wouldn’t be able to find out what caused the explosion in time; all he could do was save these people from the inferno. As Shirou thought about the plan, the top of the building started to creak and lean.

Shirou knew he needed to be fast. He told the group they would have to be brave and go back through the heat and up higher in the building. Some began to argue, but Shirou said to them they needed to do it to survive. He gave them a countdown, and on three, they ran back through the inferno, into the staircase, and up to the first unfinished open section 6 stories above. The smoke wafted in through the open-air occasionally, but Shirou was hopeful. He went to the side without smoke and began to wave his arms, hoping any avian first responders would be able to see him. The building started to wail; he grabbed one of the sheets that protected the construction workers from the wind while they were working and ripped it off.

He hoped someone would see it.

Down below, one fireman evacuating the blocks saw what appeared to be a flag waving up near the top of the building. He called it in. Soon six avian beastmen were on their way. It felt like an eternity for the first trip to be made to the people above, carrying people down from the smoldering skyscraper’s height. By the second trip, the top of the tower was leaning at a full 6-degree angle. By the third, it was 8 degrees. But alas, here it was, the final trip when a loud whine broke through the chaos, followed by some cracks and snaps as the building’s top then shifted to 10 degrees, then 14, then 18, then free fall. Shirou tried to grab on to something or someone to save, but it was too late. The tipping threw the remaining four out the side as the building’s peak toppled, falling 54 stories into the ground below and disintegrating.

From the medical center across the way, Mayor Rose watched in horror.

Michiru and Nazuna were exhausted from form switching and shape-shifting over and over in different ways for the scientists, but as they left the room and walked back from out the windows, they could see smoke. The two turned to each other in concern, Michiru wanted to help, but she was just too weak from today’s events. “Hey, Michi?” Nazuna asked, “what do you think happened.” Michiru didn’t know and didn’t want to know, but she knew one thing, “a terror attack.” On the ride home, neither of them were able to converse. They were too busy thinking about if anyone was hurt. Michiru knew that Shirou would have been there to help. Neither wanted to do anything but sleep, so when they got to their respective homes, they said goodbye and went to do just that. When Michiru got up the stairs, Melissa, Gem, and Josh were glued to the TV. Michiru walked tiredly around to see the news showing the events of that day at the skyscraper. So far, they believed that only 13 people had died, but the company constructing the building lost a hefty amount of money. It went on to talk about some hero who sacrificed his life to save 18 people.

Michiru knew it was Shirou, and she knew he wasn’t dead.

Michiru went to go up to her room, but Josh followed down the hall a bit, “Hey, you good?” she turned around, “Yeah, I’m fine, just kinda shaken up by today.” Josh nodded, “Well, I’m gonna go for a smoke, so holler if you want to talk.” Michiru nodded and went into her room as Josh went up to the roof. Josh lit his cigarette and looked over at Nazuna’s apartment. Deciding to text her to see what she was up to, he pulled out his phone and brought up her number.

JM: Hey

NH: Hey

JM: What u doing?

NH: Sleepy… zzz

JM: U too? Damn, I need more friends

NH: LOL

He put his phone away and took a drag from his cigarette. Looking out over the city, watching the sun begin to go down. An eerie calm lay over the city as the lights signifying it was dusk started to come on. He could still see the smoke from the skyscraper. He wondered where Shirou was right now and what he was doing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fuck/Marry/Kill: Charlie Sheen, Sheen from Jimmy Neutron, the impressive Sheen of silk textiles.


	6. Aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Michiru helps Shirou out of a painful situation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Longer one than usual, but we're about 1/3 of the way through the story now, so that's nifty.
> 
> Not sure how I feel about Shirou and Michiru's conversation, but whatever, I've made my bed now I must lay in it.

Shirou comes to, buried in a pile of rubble, and begins to dig himself out. Slowly but surely, he pulls himself to the surface, moving rock after rock. Having the strength of Ginrou sure has its perks. It was around midnight, and he could see the flashlights of the people searching for survivors like him; it was best he didn’t run into one. He was still healing in most places, from having been utterly crushed and was in pain. Finding it hard to walk, he started crawling out of sight towards a location without flashlights. Adrenaline kicking in and worried that he’d be spotted, he crawled as fast as he could. He managed to get around the corner of a building and into an alleyway where he could prop himself up. He grunted at the action of moving his legs but knew they would heal soon enough. He was haunted by the 3. He kept running it back in his head, thinking of how, if it happened again, he could save them all. But then he realized that none of it mattered since it would still have been the same situation. No matter how the cards could have been dealt, at least two would have ended up dead. He hated to think that it had become a numbers game for him, judging himself based on how many he saved vs. how many he couldn’t. But he needed to get out of there.

He called Michiru.

Michiru awoke to the sound of Shirou’s ringtone. She had set a personal one for him, so she didn’t mistake an important call to action for a telemarketer or vice versa. Typically at this hour, she’d not care too much about picking up on time, but she sat up immediately and answered this time. “Michiru *cough*, I *cough cough*, fuck, come get *cough* me. *cough* broken building.” And that was it. He hung up after, but Michiru knew what to do and where to go. She rushed out to the roof as quietly as possible and morphed her arms into wings, taking flight. She could still see smoke against the moon, albeit feinter than before; it was enough to guide her way. She morphed her nose into that of a wolf’s mid-flight to search for Shirou’s scent as she got closer to her destination. She found him in an alleyway just outside of the point of impact.

Shirou heard a thud from his left side and, opening his eyes, saw Michiru.

“Hey, Shirou. Long time no see.” She morphed her feet into eagle talons and picked him up gently before taking back off to the sky. Shirou was still coughing; she correctly assumed he hadn’t regenerated too well yet and was probably still in pain. She decided to engage in some one-sided small talk with him on the way back to the co-op. “Ya know, when I saw the news, I knew you were there, and when they said that some hero had ‘sacrificed himself’ to save 18 lives, I knew it was you too. I just didn’t know when you’d be back from your little fall.” Shirou spat out some blood, “*cough* _Little fall?_ ” Michiru giggled, “Yeah, I hoped you’d like that one, just keep coughing that stuff up, big guy, we’re almost back home.”

Michiru put Shirou down on his balcony and landed next to him.

“Go inside and lay on the couch; I’ll get a first aid kit.” Shirou wanted to protest and heal it off, but he knew Michiru would persist until he caved. He tried to walk his way to the couch, but his legs were still not in the best of shape. Michiru saw this and went to lend a hand. They made their way to the couch, and Shirou laid down, “Thanks. *cough*” He was still coughing occasionally but felt lucky that it was his organs that healed first. Michiru came back over with the first aid kit, smiling gently, “You did a number on yourself this time. Where does it hurt the most?” Shirou was unamused by that question, “Look at me, *cough* where do you think.” He looked like hammered shit, but she knew that she needed to see the skin under his clothes to get a picture of what to do, so she reluctantly asked, “Can you take off your clothes, please?” Shirou obliged, knowing what she meant. She looked him up and down: One broken leg, one busted leg, deep purple bruises covered his chest, she assumed that it was hiding a few fractured ribs, one arm cut to pieces, the other arm slightly compound fractured past the elbow. The rest were just cuts, scrapes, and bruises. Michiru sighed, feeling like there wasn’t much she could do, “You’re a mess! I guess I’ll start with setting that fracture in your arm.” Shirou gulped, “Do you know how to do that?” Michiru shrugged. the only thing Shirou could think was ‘Oh no.’ She placed one hand on one side of the fracture and one hand on the other side and prepared herself to make it happen.

Josh had gotten up to get some water. On his way back, he heard a dull grunt from the room across from him, confused, he stopped for a second, then heard Michiru’s voice, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to push it like that.” Followed by another dull grunt and a pained “Are you sure you’ve done this before?” from Shirou before Michiru’s “I didn’t think it would go the other way!” Then another grunt, and another, and then one final grunt before Shirou said, “Stop moving it around and leave it alone! You have definitely not done this before.” Josh laughed to himself as he went back inside his room.

“Hold _right_ here.” He pointed at a spot on his fractured arm. She held there, with his other arm, Shirou set the fracture back into place. “Why didn’t you just have me do that from the start?” Michiru asked, annoyed. “I thought you wouldn’t listen.” Michiru rolled her eyes, “I’m stubborn, but I’m not stupid.” Shirou squinted his eyes some, “That’s debatable.” The tanuki gave him a death stare for that one, but she knew he was in pain. “Let me get some of these deep cuts and abrasions, so they don’t get infected at least, it’ll slow the healing process.” She took out some alcohol swabs and started cleaning off the wounds on his face, “You know, I’m not sure an infection would slow _my_ healing process, Michiru. I think it might be best for me just to heal this one off.” Michiru was stubborn, but she recognized that this was pretty beyond her level of expertise and that by the time she cleaned all his wounds, they probably would be healed by his healing factor. “So then what, Shirou? I just leave you in pain?” Shirou chuckled slightly to himself, “No, go to my desk, bottom left cabinet.” Michiru went over to the desk as Shirou put his clothes back on and pulled open the cabinet to reveal a long wooden box. Opening it, she found a glass bottle…

Vodka.

“Shirou, are you fucking serious? _Is vodka_ your cure? I didn’t even know you drank.” Shirou laughed, catching Michiru off guard, “It’s for occasions just like this one, tanuki. Killing the pain is its point.” She brought it over to the man and gave him the bottle. Uncorking it, Shirou took a big swig, then handed it to Michiru. “What, don’t pretend all a sudden like you _don’t_ drink.” Michiru gulped, then took a sip, spitting the tiny amount out. “Don’t sip it; it’s vodka, plug your nose and push it past your tongue.” She tried it, it worked, but the after taste made her grimace and shudder. Shirou took the bottle back and took another swig, unphased by the taste. Shirou motioned for her to sit, so she kindly sat on the rug across from him. “How’d the tests go?” Michiru thought back at her day of testing, “It was alright, just really exhausting. Got in bed early afterward, I’m sure Nazuna did as well.” Shirou hadn’t heard Michiru talk about Nazuna in a while, “I heard you two are hanging out again?” Michiru was happy to say, “Yeah, we are.” Shirou was beginning to feel a bit drunk,

“You two kiss and make up?”

Michiru blushed, thinking back on their ‘one day,’ “Uhhh, y-yeah… w-we did.” Shirou noticed this, and Michiru knew it the second she sputtered the words out. “Michiru? Did you two _literally_ kiss and make up?” Michiru was silently blushing on the carpet, feeling tipsy, and mortified of any question that could come out of this conversation. Shirou sighed, looking away and biting his lip for a second, “Sorry, I didn’t realize…” Michiru looked at him and told him the truth, “Shirou, I’m not just into guys, but girls too. And so is Nazuna… Listen, I’ll spare you the details, but yes, we kissed and made up. But we’re not dating.” Shirou nodded, he didn’t want to know the details, but he wanted to know one thing, “Why wouldn’t you date her?” Michiru sighed, “Let’s just say it’d be bad news for both of us.” Shirou wondered why but didn’t want to dwell on something she seemed like she’d rather not talk about too much. They sat not talking for a few seconds, until Shirou went for another drink, then handing the bottle back to Michiru, Shirou thought about some question to ask as she took her swig of vodka, but it was her that broke the silence,

“Unrelated, what do you think of Josh?”

Shirou half-smirked and asked, “Is he your new crush?” Michiru, unphased, “Nah, he’s cool and all, but I don’t know. It’s not like I haven’t thought about it, but I don’t think he’s into me. But what’s _your_ take on him?” Shirou thought for a second, “I don’t know, haven’t talked to him too much, and it almost feels like he’s avoiding me casually. It makes me think he’s hiding something. I mean, he is, but something else. Do you remember how he said he’s from California? His ID card said New Mexico, which, of course, can have a lot of explanations, but still, it’s strange.” Michiru pondered this new fact about her friend, “He could have moved.” Shirou nodded, “Correct. As I said, there are a lot of reasons why that could happen.” Shirou took another swig of vodka. “Hey! What about me?” Shirou sighed and gave the tanuki the bottle, her taking a smaller swig than Shirou. They sat in limbo for a few minutes, letting the alcohol rest in them, allowing them to feel good.

“Hey, Shirou?”

Shirou turned his head back to Michiru, “Hmm.” Michiru looked down, then back up to the wolf, “Did you ever fall in love with anyone? Like, after becoming Ginrou?” Shirou winced a bit, “Yeah… around five times.” Michiru laughed, wondering what Shirou would act like while in love with someone, “No way, honestly I can’t tell if I’m more surprised it only happened five times or that it happened at all.” Shirou half smiled and eased his eyes, “That’s just the people I was in love with, the people I’ve just liked, I forget the amount.” Michiru laughed again, “Okay, that seems more like someone who’s over a thousand years old. You like anyone recently?” His “happier” complexion faded as he looked at the tanuki in front of him. “Why do you want to know this?” Michiru didn’t have an answer for that. In her mind, she just was making conversation, but now she was overanalyzing it. “I don’t know.” The conversation lulled on and on, and soon Michiru was starting to nod off, having to catch herself every few moments to stay awake. Shirou sat there, amused, watching her try to hang in there. He began to take in the appearance of the tanuki in front of him. As he did, he started to notice details he hadn’t seen before. Michiru conked out for a second before shaking her head back awake, but Shirou was this time sitting on the ground in front of her, “Did you want to know because you hope it’s you?” Michiru was taken aback by this but was stuck thinking about it. This question, it was so bold, she began…

…to wake up.

Shirou was still on the couch, and she was on her side, drooling on the rug. “I think you might want to get upstairs and into bed, little tanuki; I doubt you want to wake up with neck pain.” Michiru groggily got up and drunkenly fell. She tried to get back up, but her legs wobbled, and once again, she fell. “Carry me.” Shirou shook his head, “Michiru, I’m afraid I’m in no condition to do that, but here.” He threw a throw pillow at her, “Thankth.” She muttered as she pulled it to her face. She drunkenly looked at Shirou once more, smiled, then passed out.

“Lightweight,” Shirou said under his breath as he took another swig of vodka.

The next morning, Michiru woke after breakfast, only remembering bits and pieces of the night before. She tried collecting her thoughts, yet her head felt like it was giving birth to a brain baby. She slowly got up and tried to calm her thoughts, there was dried drool matting down the fur on the left side of her head and a small damp spot on the throw pillow she slept on. She looked around for Shirou, but her cricked neck stopped her from a full 90-degree rotation to the right. She laid back down on the pillow and tried to fall back asleep to no avail. “Fuck…” she thought as she endured the murderous waves of nausea. Waves that kept coming and coming. She shakily got up, went over to the trash can, and prepared to throw up.

Shirou heard a retching sound from his room.

He got up from the living room couch, grabbed a bottle of water, and went to investigate the mysterious case of the hungover tanuki. Shirou opened the door, seeing Michiru propped up against the wall with the trashcan between her legs. She meekly waved at him, and he set the water bottle down next to her. “Drink this, and I’ll grab you some bread.” Michiru nodded as she unscrewed the bottle of water and drank from it. Shirou came back with some plain bread slices and handed them to her, “Shirou, what time is it?” Shirou half-smirked, “Around 3 PM,” the tanuki groaned as she started taking bites of bread. “Let me know if you need anything.”

What did they talk about last night?

Michiru was trying her hardest to remember. She remembered Shirou in pain, then vodka, then conversations about… what were they about, was it people they knew? She never drank liquor, so she got too wasted and fast, mostly since she didn’t eat dinner that night. She kept thinking about it, yes. They talked about Nazuna! She had come out as bi to Shirou, then… wait… she came out to Shirou?! Michiru groaned in embarrassment. Then after that, she told him that she kissed Nazuna… Michiru couldn’t tell what made her feel worse, the hangover or her stupid mouth from the night before. Michiru then remembered that she chose not to go into details and end the conversation quickly. Doing so made her feel a lot better about what she said. Okay, so, then they talked about Josh… okay… and then Shirou’s… love… life… Michiru wanted to faint. Maybe he wouldn’t remember, but then she got tired and… the dream. Michiru sat straight up, shocked at herself, “OH NO.”

Across the way, Josh was teaching Nazuna piano.

“Ok, I understand what to do with my right hand, but when I add my left, it all falls apart.” Nazuna was frustrated; she didn’t think that adding another hand would be such a mindfuck. Josh laughed, “Just slow it down. You’re in no rush. Take each note at a time.” Nazuna tried this and still messed it up, “It’s not working…” Josh shrugged, “Slow it down more then, that’s what I did. Go to a speed that you’re comfortable playing with both hands at and slowly start speeding up.” Nazuna tried again, and again, and again, slowing it down each time to no avail. “Can’t I just play with one hand do something else with the other?” She dryly asked her teacher. “Sure, but you’ll have to learn it eventually. Don’t worry; it’s this hard for everyone to start on two hands for the first time. Just keep at it!” Nazuna nodded, then asked for a break. Josh agreed as he saw how frustrated it was for her to try and fail like this. They got some sodas and went up on the roof to drink them. They had a clear view of the lopped-off top of the skyscraper that had almost collapsed yesterday, “Did you see what happened?” Josh asked. Nazuna thought about yesterday, “Only through the window of the medical center, Michiru and I were in there all day.” Josh was puzzled by why they would have had to have been there all day long, “What fantastical occasion brought you two to the medical center? Are you sick?” Nazuna giggled a little, “No, not sick, to test us. Please don’t ask for what, but we had to morph and shape-shift over and over inside this machine. No idea why, but that’s why we were exhausted yesterday.” Josh zoned out, looking across the city, thought about this for a minute, and thought hard about it. He was worried about why scientists were testing them, but his train of thought was derailed by Nazuna asking,

“What did you do yesterday?”

He looked up at her smiling face, “Y’know, watched TV, wandered around town a bit trying to find those street tacos again, oh! I met a new homeless guy!” Nazuna snickered, “A _new homeless guy?_ What kind of stuff do you get into with the homeless, and how many do you know?” Josh shrugged, “It’s not like I hung out with him; I’m just saying that since I was homeless for a bit, I can relate. We just say hey and acknowledge each other’s existence.” Nazuna rolled her eyes with a smirk, “You were homeless for _one_ day, dude. That’s hardly being homeless, and if I remember what you told me correctly, Michiru saved your ass that very night.” Josh laughed, “Yeah, I guess… hey, you think people refer to homeless beastmen as strays?” Nazuna giggled a little, “I think that sounds pretty species-ist.” Josh didn’t think so, “I think it’s a good term. And since we’re beastmen too, we might get away with it.” Nazuna considered it for a second before concluding, “You’re a dork.” Josh chuckled, “That’s just mean.” Nazuna looked him in the eyes, “What’re you gonna do about it.” Josh pretended to be deep in thought, putting his hand on his chin and everything, “Well, purple nurples are out of the question, you’re female, and that’d be assault… Can’t hit you with the wet willie, don’t wanna deal with all your earwax…” He shifted his gaze to Nazuna and raised his eyebrows, “So Indian sunburn it is.” Nazuna crossed her arms in defense, “Don’t you fucking dare.” Josh furrowed his brow. He brought up his hands slowly while looking in her eyes, that sheepish smirk on his face. Nazuna was trying hard not to smile at this display of stupidity. Josh stopped, winked, then lightly punched her in the upper arm and turned away. “Gotcha.” Nazuna rolled her eyes, “You’re hopeless, you know that?” Josh shrugged, “I _am_ Hopeless-2, after all.” Nazuna smirked, “And who’s Hopeless-1?” Josh smiled, “Michiru, it’s our wingman callsigns.” Nazuna cracked up, “Yeah, that checks out. You two are fucking hopeless beyond belief.” Josh put his hand on his chest, “Please, I’m hurt, Nazuna. I’m hopeless, but it’s definitely believable.” Nazuna lowered her head in a chuckle. Josh took a sip of the soda and looked out over the city.

He stared at the skyscraper for a minute, thought for a second, then came up with an idea.

“So you know how people are probably scared right now after the bombings?” Nazuna turned to him, “Yeah? Why?” Josh smiled, “What if you threw a concert to raise their spirits? With your status, I bet you’d be able to land the stadium! Then not only do you reveal your ability to play the piano… but you also reveal how much you care about beastmen.” Nazuna was caught off guard by this, she didn’t know what to think at the start, but the more she thought about it, the more she figured people would need something to take their mind off everything. However, she was still unsure and rested her head in the palm of her hand. “I don’t know, Josh; I like the idea, but getting something like that approved right now would be a pain in the ass.” Josh agreed but then thought, “What if you personally asked the Mayor? You and Michiru know her well, right?” Nazuna tilted her head a bit, “Michiru more than me, but it might be possible.” Josh shrugged, “I don’t know, just think about it. Anyway, I’ve got something to show you. Come on downstairs!” The two hopped off their spots on the roof and went back downstairs to the studio. Josh sat at the keyboard, adjusted some dials and knobs, switched the preset, and pulled out some handwritten sheet music. “So I think I’ve written it down properly, but we’ll see, and a 1, and a 2, and a fuck it!” He started playing, the sound was familiar, it was Night Running, but he was playing all the parts just on one keyboard. He had to keep switching around different settings with one hand when it wasn’t playing to make it happen, but it was all there for the most part. Nazuna was almost astonished at this, “dude! You have to teach me that. Especially if this concert works out.”

Shirou received a call from Mayor Rose.

“Ogami, we’ve got the test results back from everyone who took part in the form switching tests… We found something.” Shirou was curious about the findings, as he always was when Barbara put her nose to the grindstone in the lab, “What did you find?” Barbara sighed, “We found one of the greatest discoveries of our time, Shirou.” Shirou was confused at why she seemed so down about it if it was such a great discovery. “What is it?” the Mayor wondered if Shirou would understand, but alas, “We found that deep within the beast factor, on a quantum level, is an energy… an energy that quantumly entangles our two forms together.” Shirou didn’t understand, “What does this mean?” Barbara was ready with an explanation, “It means that our human forms and beast forms are an inseparable whole, yet two different things simultaneously. This energy is released when we switch forms because we are crossing over the meridian of quantum coherence, meaning that for a second, we are both beast and human.” Shirou mostly understood what was going on but definitely understood that this would be huge in the scientific community, so why was Barbara upset? “Why is this upsetting? Doesn’t this solve age-old questions?” Barbara answered shakily, “Because for your “suspect” to be able to use this energy physically, they’d have to be stuck in this meridian between forms. Meaning he or she both does and doesn’t exist at the same time, making them quantumly coherent and able to wield powers that rival yours, Shirou."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you didn't quite understand the quantum part, don't worry. The next chapter will have a better explanation up front and foremost.


	7. Quantum

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Quantum Factor explained.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hope the explanation of the quantum factor makes sense. I had fun with this chapter, even though it was one of the hardest ones for me to write.

“My scientists are calling it the Quantum Factor.” Mayor Rose explained to Shirou. “No one knows about it outside this facility.” They were in her secondary office at the medical facility. Shirou was still in shock at the news as he sat there, watching how the two ceiling fans split the light against the wall almost like waves. “What does this mean for beastmen?” he asked. Barbara Rose leaned back slightly in her chair, “It means a new frontier of research, but also a danger that we could never have expected to exist. I always saw the energy as a byproduct of switching forms, but it turns out it’s the source.

Imagine a Venn diagram, if you will. One circle is our beast form, the other our human one. That’s the inseparable whole made of two parts, that’s the entanglement. Where they intercept is a median where we can cross from one to another. Like a ferry on a river, quantum coherence allows us to change form at will. That river is the energy; that’s the Quantum Factor.

Michiru and Nazuna, being human turned beastmen, are capable of shapeshifting. They’re able to quantumly cohere to different Beast Factors. Using the Venn diagram analogy, because they started as just one whole, made of one part, and were only later introduced to have a second part, they can choose the second part's shape. Using the same river analogy, they can take the ferry to different docks along that river, whereas natural beastmen can only go from one port to another.

Involving Purebred and Transcendent Beastmen is tricky, though, considering I know of only one of each. One who I’ll never talk to again, and one whose identity I vowed to protect. Yet, I would assume that, in the Venn diagram example, there’s the third circle. And that in the river example, you can take the boat downstream in the river to a new location.”

Shirou was impressed, “But what about the terrorist.”

“Glad you asked. For our terrorist or terrorists, energy is the destination. They can go into the in-between, into the meridian everyone else crosses over, and stay there, quantumly cohered. From there, they can wield the energy in either form, physically.” Shirou had one question on his mind. “How do we beat them?” Rose shook her head, “This is where my expertise ends, but considering this terrorist both does and does not exist simultaneously, I doubt you’ll find them. It might be them that comes to you.” The terrorist coming to him wasn’t what Shirou wanted to hear. He needed to avoid another disaster as fast as possible. He wished to catch them, lock them away forever, coherent or not. Then, another question hit him, “How would one achieve this state in the first place?” Barbara looked at Shirou with a look of ‘you’re not gonna like this’ and softly informed him that, “There is nothing to suggest that this could be biologically and naturally achievable, not yet at least. I could be very wrong about this, but we might be dealing with someone who was created this way by accident, like the case of Michiru and Nazuna, that is to say…

… it might be a human.”

Michiru was preparing for another speech, this time just to beastmen. After the skyscraper attack, it was common knowledge that someone or some group was targeting Anima City… again. The mayor wanted Michiru to help make people feel safe, so their lives weren’t interrupted by daily fear that they could be a casualty. Furthermore, the mayor didn’t want people thinking that these attacks were related to humans being allowed into the city. She had several talking points already, such as heightened security for all entries and exits to the exclusion zone, deploying a larger police force to prominent places of interest, regulating large gatherings, etc. She needed something for people to look forward to; however, she couldn’t just get up there and _tell_ them to feel safer; she needed to say things that _made_ them feel safer. She knew she needed something that would take their mind off of it all. She needed another opinion.

She decided to call up Nazuna.

“Hey! What’s up, Michiru?” a friendly voice said through the phone. “Hey, I’m putting together a speech, sadly, and wanted to know if you had any ideas that could help citizens of Anima feel safer? Something that would boost their spirits, y’know?” Nazuna thought back to the other day, talking with that idiot, Josh, “Well, Josh, he brought up the idea of a concert, one to get people’s minds off of everything. I could try to go through with that, maybe?” Michiru thought about it but wasn’t sure, “I don’t know, wouldn’t that be pretty dangerous given the current situation? Don’t you remember what happened last time?” Nazuna laughed, “Last time was different, Michiru. I was being manipulated. I don’t think Josh knows what that word means,” Michiru giggled a bit at that, “And besides, I was planning on doing one soon anyway to showcase my new singles, so why not?” Michiru was kind of convinced but still shaky on the idea. All she could see was a bomb going off in the audience or, worse, on stage.

“How do you plan on doing the security then?”

Nazuna needed to think before she continued, “I plan on leaving it to the mayor and city officials.” Michiru also figured that it would be best if the plan went through. Neither of them knew much about how security worked, other than they were protected by it. “I could probably get Shirou to watch after you, too.” Nazuna laughed, “I’d love that… by the way, did you ever ask him if he’d go on a date with me?” Michiru cracked up over the line, “In your dreams, Naz…” Nazuna chuckled, “But could you talk to the mayor about getting an appropriate venue set up to play?” Michiru, who was still on the fence about the idea, reluctantly decided to say, “Yes. But if anything goes wrong, I’ll be the one killing you, not the terrorist.” Nazuna smiled widely, “Sounds great!”

Michiru went and wrote in her notes, ‘Nazuna Concert.’

Nazuna returned to the studio room where Josh was waiting to continue the piano lesson. “So… how’d it go?” he asked, “How’d what go? The phone call with Michiru?” Nazuna was confused why he asked that, “Yeah.” Nazuna rolled her eyes, “It went terribly, the connection was awful, Michiru has cancer, and I’m dying of dysentery.” Josh chuckled, “That’s a real messy problem to have, Naz. Maybe we should postpone the lesson until you can – nevermind.” Nazuna half-lidded her eyes, “Thank you for not finishing that sentence about me.” Josh nodded, flat-faced, “What I meant was if you had asked her about the concert, by the way.” Nazuna mentally smacked herself for not realizing that immediately, “She said she’d talk to the mayor about it.” Josh was excited about this, “What’s your plan for it then? Have you thought about a playlist?” Nazuna hadn’t thought too hard about it yet. “I was considering having some covers upfront, then six of my songs, three old, three new, and then a seventh as a finale.” Josh thought about this for a minute, “Nazuna, we’ve only rehearsed three songs; how are you going to play the rest?” Nazuna smiled,

“I’m not… you are.”

Josh was interested. Being able to play on stage had been a dream of his for a long time, “For sure, remember though, I _can_ play three instruments, so don’t be shy about tossing me around.” Nazuna smirked, “I can think of _several_ ways I could toss you around, Josh.” Josh had a confused look on his face… why the hell did she say that? Was he just too dense to get the drift? “For example, I could have you on guitar or saxophone while I played keyboard, and then switch you to the keyboard while I sing solos. Thoughts?” Josh did have thoughts, but not about that. Although he shook off what he was thinking and said, “Literally whatever you want me to play, I’ll play.” Nazuna laughed to herself, “Alright, then oboe it is!” Josh closed his eyes and nodded, giving his sheepish smile, “Good choice, but I’d prefer a piccolo; it has a very velvety range to it.” Nazuna laughed.

Across town, Shirou was walking over to city hall.

He needed to see Michiru before she went live and catch her just in time. “Michiru.” She turned around and smiled, seeing that a friend had shown up to support her in the interview. “Hey, Shirou! Are you going to come inside? Uh, like, for the speech I’m going to make?” Shirou thought for a second and realized that he had nothing else to do that day other than hunt a ghost, “Sure, I’ll stay for it.” Michiru’s face lit up, loving the fact that she wouldn’t have to be alone, “Awesome!” She began walking off for a second. Shirou eased his eyes a bit, “I do need to talk to you about something, though.” Michiru turned inquisitively, “What is it?” Shirou motioned for them to go inside, “It has to be in private.” Michiru didn’t know what to expect, “Okay…”

“No one should be able to hear us in here.”

Michiru leaned against a wall, not wanting to get her formal attire tarnished by anything in the supply closet they were inside. She wasn’t too sure why this was necessary, however. “Shirou, I’m going to be late.” Shirou sighed, “Mayor Rose found something deep in the Beast Factor that… well… will change everything we know about the Beast Factor, but it’s dangerous. I want you to keep your eyes out for anything suspicious, especially after the skyscraper incident. Even though I risk sounding like a dad, I want you to be safe… just be extra vigilant, okay?” Michiru smiled and hugged Shirou, “You don’t sound like a dad at all this time. You sound like someone who cares.” Shirou brought a half-smile to his face, reciprocating the hug. “I do have to get there on time, though.”

Michiru wasn’t as nervous as she thought she’d be this time.

She felt confident that she would help out with the worries of beastmen in Anima city, the tanuki had prepared a plan to deliver the speech. She wanted to come across as cute. And with Shirou backing her up… from a distance… she believed she could pull it off. “Remember, cute. Melt hearts, Michiru. Melt hearts.” She said to herself, pumping herself up for the speech. She heard the producers begin the count down, and when they reached one, she switched from her human form she was supposed to be in… to her tanuki form. By the time the producers could do anything about it, they were already live, and she had begun her speech. Shirou watched from across the room, behind the cameras. He was able to see her in full view. It surprised him that she decided to use her tanuki form for this, however.

And it surprised him even more, when he looked at her and the word ‘cute’ came to mind.

Shirou turned away and walked over to get a drink from the water cooler outside the room. As he did, he got approached by one of the producers. “Hey, where have I seen you before?” Shirou turned around and recognized the man. He was one of the people he saved from the skyscraper. “Don’t know. I think you have me confused for someone else.” And Shirou walked away, back into the speech room, hoping not to be talked to by the producer. The last thing he needed was someone to recognize him as someone who should be dead. The strange thing was, this guy wasn’t wearing a badge. Wait… he wasn’t wearing a badge. He turned around, and the ‘producer’ was gone. Shirou shifted form to his wolf self and smelled the air. It was clean, the producer he had talked to had a scent, and everything was fine. Shirou sighed and switched back to his human form, not knowing why he got set off like that on something as finicky as a badge.

The speech was almost over.

Michiru was on the final stretch of her speech: Nazuna’s concert. She felt like she’d pass out if she had to do this charade much longer. She got through all the talking points, “And if there are any pop fans out there, you might be in luck! Anima City’s very on idol, Nazuna, is putting plans together for a concert! There will be all sorts of festivities, and most importantly, live music for all ages! Be the best you can be out there, guys!” The director cut the broadcast, and Michiru let out a large sigh. She looked over to find Shirou, and he had propped himself up against the wall in a place where he could see the whole room, as to be expected of the man. Michiru got up and walked over to him. “How’d I do?” Shirou raised an eyebrow, “Pretty good if you planned to be a cutesy tanuki.” Michiru was glad he said that. She felt like she bombed the cute part and just came off as creepy. “I did plan on that. Let’s get out of here.”

Nazuna and Josh had been watching Michiru’s presentation.

The two had ended up deciding just to hang out after they got burned out from the piano lessons and thought they’d watch Michiru look formal on TV. But they did not anticipate the cute tanuki factor. “I think she did well,” Nazuna said to Josh as he cracked a beer. “Too cute for me. If I were a child, then I’d probably like it, though.” Nazuna looked at him, “You’re not actually into her, are you?” Josh glanced over to her mid-sip, then after putting the can down, “No, not really. She’s fun, bubbly, and a great person, but not for me.” Nazuna raised an eyebrow, “I honestly thought for a while that you were pushing for it to happen.” Josh was stunned, “No, well… when I first met her, I thought about it somewhat, but now that I know her more… let’s just say I feel like she’d be too hard for me to handle.” Nazuna laughed,

“Yeah, that checks out. Have you met anyone you do like, though?”

Josh didn’t get the gist of why he was being asked this, “What’s with the 20 questions here? Can’t a man just live his life?” Nazuna giggled a little, “I’m just curious. You’ve helped me out a bit. I might be able to help you out. You scratch my back, and I scratch yours.” Josh raised his eyebrows, “Okay… if you could get right under my left shoulder blade, that would be great. I’ve got an itch there that’s been killing me.” Nazuna laughed, “No, you doofus, I’m saying I’ll wingman you or something, I don’t know.” Josh decided to just go all-in on the joking, “Okay, I’m head over heels for Shirou. His burly wolf mane lightens up my day. I just want to bury my head in it and -” Nazuna cut him off, “Okay, first off. I know you’re lying. Second, if anyone is going to bury their head in Shirou’s wolf mane, it’s going to be me. Best believe it.”

Josh laughed,

“So you got a crush on Shirou?” Nazuna blushed, “Not really, but he is kinda hot… and when he’s in his wolf form, he looks so strong… I love it. Wait, what do you look like in _your_ beast form? What even is yours?” Josh nodded and switched into his fox form. Nazuna got excited, “You’re a fox too?!” Josh chuckled, “Gray fox, not ‘pink fox,’ but yeah. Foxes for life, dude.” He reached out a fist, Nazuna shifted to her fox form and gave him the fist bump while making an exploding sound. They both laughed at their stupidity.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hell, I'd bury my face into Shirou's wolf mane too, that sounds dope.


	8. Setting Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The concert is being set up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really dislike the way I wrote this, I had writers block for just about all of it. It's only purpose is to bridge the time between the last chapter and the next one.  
> However,  
> The next chapter is where everything kicks into high gear, it's a doozie : )

Chapter 8: Setting up

The mayor’s hands were tied. Michiru telling Anima City on live television that Nazuna was going to host a concert sealed the deal that it would happen. She just wished that Michiru had told her about it earlier. Now, with a terrorist on the loose, anyone who went to that concert was at risk. But the population loved Nazuna, and Barbara knew that it would help lift spirits after the skyscraper attack. She sighed, then signed off on letting Nazuna’s production team use the stadium for their concert.

One week later…

“Get ready for the coolest concert ever!” Nazuna was stoked, Michiru and Josh were happy for her. “We’ve got pyrotechnics, holograms, fancy pattern lights, the _whole nine yards_.” The three were walking around the stadium. For the most part, the concert set had been assembled, and the tech teams were working hard to make it the best it could be. The shape of the stage was triangular in fashion, with two connected sets. Nazuna insisted that Josh have his very own station on stage, not wanting to shove him in the back with the rest of the band. Josh was nervous beyond belief. He was about to live out a huge goal of his, but he felt sick at his stomach when faced with the reality of it. Josh was happy he wasn’t hidden back with the band; however, even though it was small, about five people were playing some brass horns. He wished that he didn’t have to -

“Josh, you good?”

Nazuna was worried about her friend. He hadn’t been acting his usual self since the reality of the concert. Brought back to reality, “Yeah, I’m chilling. Just, nervous.” Michiru laughed, “I thought you didn’t get nervous.” Josh didn’t feel like joking back, “Guess I was wrong about myself.” Nazuna and Michiru looked at each other. He wasn’t acting himself at all. Over the past week, Nazuna and Josh had become more friends than teacher/pupil, and Michiru had been hanging out a lot more. However, as the concert's date approached closer and closer, the more off, he had been acting. It was as if he suddenly wasn’t excited about it.

“Yeah, I’m gonna go home.” He said to his two friends, “I’ve gotta make sure to practice my pieces.” He turned to leave, but Nazuna followed him. “Hey, Josh. I’m worried about you. Are you sure you’re okay?” Josh didn’t want to talk, so he just turned around and said, “There’s just stuff that I need to do, and it weighs on me, Naz, okay? I’m fine.” Nazuna exhaled deeply, a somber look growing on her face as she approached the other fox. “You know you can talk to me, right?” She said as she put her hand on his shoulder and gently rubbing it.

“I’ll tell you after the concert, okay?”

He smiled meekly at her before pulling away and leaving the stadium. Nazuna’s branding agents had been friendly enough to give Josh a car, an Audi S7 with Nazuna’s branding logo across the side. He didn’t care that he was a moving advertisement, it had been a long time since he had the chance to drive, and the car was ludicrous. He hopped in and turned it on; his mixtape came on, playing Fleetwood Mac – The Chain. He threw on his Clubmaster sunglasses, lit up a cigarette, and kicked the car into sport mode. He reversed, hit the parking brake, and in one fluid motion spun the car around and threw it back into drive to go forward; he pushed the car to 60 in the parking lot and hit the parking brake again, drifting out of the lot, onto the road and was gone.

Nazuna and Michiru both saw this.

“What the fuck?” Nazuna said in disbelief. “Did you know he could do that?” Michiru asked, surprised. “Not in my life would I have ever been able to guess he could do that.” Michiru nodded at her friend’s statement. “So, what’re your plans for the rest of the day?” Michiru asked Nazuna, “Well, I was hoping that we three could have gotten lunch, but I guess it’s just you and me now.” Nazuna said, a little bummed that Josh was gone. “Where do you wanna go then? Was there someplace in particular?” Nazuna thought about this question before deciding on a seafood place down by the harbor where you could get great lobster. Michiru agreed to this motion, and they called for Nazuna’s chauffeur to bring them there.

From afar, Shirou watched.

It had been a week, and there was no sign of action with the terrorist. This lack of action worried him. Tomorrow was the concert, and with this terrorist still at large, many people were going to be in danger. He was having flashbacks to the last time Nazuna had a concert during a crisis, two years ago during the Nirvasyl incident. He didn’t want a repeat. He had been working the entire past week on how he would be able to catch the terrorist if he were to be at the concert. But he finally decided on staying in his smell-o-vision the entire time; it would be tedious and draining but would keep them safe. The terrorist had shown no signs of being willing to die for their cause, yet, and Shirou doubted that they would suicide bomb the concert, he’d most likely have time to disarm it if there were to be a bomb.

But he’d have to act fast and not scare anyone.

He sat perched up on top of a nearby building, as he had been analyzing all of the exits and entrances, weak points, strong points. It was all driving him crazy; he just couldn’t stand the idea of a mass scale attack. If the skyscraper weren’t the big one, this would be. They still had no motive, no reliable way of operating, and no patterns to the attacks. Not having patterns concerned Shirou as well, but in the back of his mind, something nagged him, and that was that in both the tanker and the skyscraper attacks, the location of which the bombs went off minimized casualties. It was somehow as if the terrorist didn’t want to kill. But regardless of that fact, the evildoer must be stopped.

Meanwhile, Josh was at a red light.

He felt terrible for ditching Nazuna and Michiru, but he needed room to breathe for a minute. Now that the minute was up and his stress level had gone down, he felt for his actions. He was making his way back to the stadium to reunite with his friends when he received a phone call. It was Nazuna, “Hey.” On the other end, Nazuna and Michiru were being driven to the restaurant, “Hey! So we decided that we’d go down to that new seafood place down by the wharf and then go on a boat ride afterward; you want to come?” Josh thought about it, “Yeah, sure, being alone isn’t going to help me cope with the stress anyway.” Nazuna got a little giddy that he was coming back, “Great! I’ll send you the address.”

“You like him, don’t you?”

Nazuna was caught off guard by this question from Michiru; she continued, “I’ve seen the way that you two have grown together over the past week, and don’t think I haven’t picked up on the clues.” Nazuna felt choked up, “What. Clues?” Michiru giggled, “Oh, you know, how you wanted him to have a special place on stage next to you, how you always want him to tag along, how you laugh at even some of the un-funny stuff he says. You might not have realized it, but I have.” Nazuna blushed lightly, unable to say anything back. She realized that what Michiru said was true. At least, not the liking him part, right? “Do you think he sees these ‘clues?’” Michiru laughed, “Of course not! One, he’s a guy. Two, you’re THE Nazuna. To him, you’ll never seem like an option even when it’s right in front of his face!” Nazuna smiled. At least she didn’t have to worry about embarrassing herself with Josh thinking she’s crushing on him.

By the time Josh got to the restaurant, Michiru and Nazuna had already ordered crab cakes and shrimp appetizers. When he entered the establishment, the two girls waved him over. As he got close, Nazuna motioned for him to sit next to her while Michiru mouthed the words “you’re tragic” to her friend. Josh sat down and picked up a menu, and began to look through it. “So, have you thought about what you’re gonna wear on stage?” Nazuna asked Josh, “I honestly thought you had that figured out. I didn’t realize I get to be in charge of my own life.” Nazuna giggled, and Michiru rolled her eyes, smiling. “Don’t worry; we can prepare something awesome. My tailor has the best taste in concert clothes, trust me.”

Shirou was on top of the stadium now.

He was trying to think like the terrorist, trying to think of how they would attack if they did. He wanted to stop this scum something fierce. He kept coming up short, but then… If Shirou were the terrorist, he’d sneak in pretending to be one of the security guards or audio technicians backstage. He didn’t like that Michiru, Nazuna, and Josh would be affected if a bomb were to go off backstage. He called Yuji, “Tachiki here.” Shirou was confident this would be the way the terrorist struck. “Yuji, I need you to add extra security checks for backstage workers. I have a hunch that our terrorist is going to strike through there.” Yuji agreed, saying he’d get some of The Boys to cover it like glue. Shirou wasn’t satisfied; however, he would be backstage himself.

Unless…

Shirou thought to himself, looking down at all the workers setting up the stage. Unless he’s already here, setting up as we speak. Shirou climbed back down and went up to one of the security guards. “I need to see every worker’s credentials. Now.” The security guard laughed, “There are 145 workers here; you expect me to round them all up?” Shirou grabbed him, “YES. I DO.” The security guard obliged, and soon enough, everyone working on the stage were lined up in front of Shirou. “Listen up. You can make this easy or hard; all I need is to see your credentials then you can return to work. But testing me will be the last thing you do on this set. Got it?” There was a lot of murmuring in the group of workers, but none of them argued.

About halfway through the group, Shirou got a call.

“This is Ogami; I’m busy.” On the other end was Barbara, “Shirou, just give me a second.” Shirou held up his hand to the workers who had yet to be checked by him. “Shirou, what do you know about the United Nations?” Shirou scratched his head, “Human peace group, correct?” He wasn’t entirely correct, but Barbara said, “Sure. I met with them today. One of their shadow companies went rogue, and they believe it might have something to do with the terror attacks here.” Shirou needed to know more, “What does this company do, then?” Barbara sighed, “The UN wouldn’t tell me, or couldn’t, but they’re sending support to the city. Technicians who can try and seek out any rogue operatives that could be acting autonomously in the region.” Shirou appreciated this, “So will they be at the concert?” Barbara didn’t say anything at first, knowing why Shirou asked, “No, they’ll be here in a week. Trust me, I tried.” Shirou frowned, knuckles white on the phone…“A week is too late.”


	9. Concerto for Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nazuna and Josh perform their concert to raise morale.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy, here we go. This is where it all kicks off. Welcome to the halfway mark.
> 
> Lemme know what you think of how this plays out. ; )

“Mic check, one two!”

Nazuna’s staff was setting up and testing the last of the stage equipment. It was an hour until the concert started. From backstage, the three could hear the sound of the crowd gathering. Nazuna loved that sound, the cheering, and the shouting, all for her. Josh was uneasy; he looked down at his silver sequined tuxedo and gloves and gulped. He was about to do it; he was about to play live for a city of people. Michiru was doing some social media work for Nazuna’s page, showing the backstage interactions to excite the followers. “You ready? Nazuna will do most heavy lifting and crowd work, Josh; you just have to play instruments. Don’t get overeager; just do what you always do.” Michiru was smiling. She found the nervous Josh amusing. “I feel like I’m going to throw up. I’m going to throw up.” Nazuna rested an arm on him, “No you’re not, I won’t let you. Take this and this.” She had two small pills of different types. “Are you drugging me? I knew this was a trap.” Nazuna giggled, “Not quite; it’s anti-nausea and anti-anxiety.” Josh immediately took them, Michiru and Nazuna laughed.

Shirou was waiting outside the door, propped up against the wall.

He had seen all the workers’ credentials but to no avail. They were all clean. He went into smell-o-vision, nothing. Maybe the skyscraper was the big one after all. He still couldn’t shake his gut feeling that something was wrong. Josh exited the door and looked at Shirou. Shirou thought the poor kid was terrified, but Josh nodded and walked to the smoking lounge. Michiru popped out of the door next. “Hey, Shirou!” Shirou gave a half-smirk at the tanuki, who was wearing an elaborate dress Nazuna gave her. “You look like a cartoon protagonist.” Michiru laughed, “how do you know I’m not?” Shirou shook his head at her.

Nazuna was warming up her singing while looking through social media.

She saw all the pictures Michiru posted, the likes within the thousands. She was afraid to look at the comments but did so anyway. It was mostly positive, but one stuck out to her on a picture of her and Josh. “When did Nazuna get a boyfriend?? LOL.” She immediately closed her phone and tossed it on the couch. “He’s not my boyfriend…” She said to herself. She honestly didn’t know what to think of Josh half the time; she enjoyed being around him, but romantically? She’d never considered it. She thought about it a little, looking herself in the mirror. Was Michiru right? Did she want Josh but not even know it yet?

Just then, the door opened, and Josh entered, reeking of cigarette smoke.

“I smoked, sorry.” Nazuna turned around, “I can tell you did.” Josh nodded. She may as well try. Nazuna got up and, walking over to Josh, planted a small kiss on his cheek, “What the hell was that for?” he asked, furrowing his brow in confusion. “It’s for good luck.” She smiled at him. Such a random display of affection caught Josh off guard, but he appreciated it. He might have even gone as far as to say he liked it. But he knew it would never work out between them even if he tried to make it happen.

*snap snap*

“Hey, Earth to Dorkus Maximus. It’s just a peck on the cheek; get over it already.” Nazuna said in a playful tone, her voice flowing smoothly like butter. “Sorry, it’s just a lot right now.” Nazuna understood; she remembered her first time on stage and how scary it was. “It’s okay, dude, don’t worry about the people, just like you told me about playing with two hands on the piano. Everyone’s first time is nerve-racking. I remember my first time, all those people watching. So many people came, I just didn’t expect it.” Josh tried to stifle his laugh but couldn’t, “Holy shit, do you hear yourself?” Nazuna thought back to what she just said, “Fuck off! You’re so immature.” Josh was still laughing, “Man, that must have been a rough first time.” Nazuna couldn’t help but laugh at her own expense as well.

Josh just wished that the moment could last, but he knew it couldn’t.

Just then, the music started playing, and the crowd started cheering louder. “That’s our cue, Josh, come on!” She grabbed his wrist and drug him out to the side of the stage. Nazuna switched to her beast form, so did Josh; he hoped it would cover up his nervousness. The synthesizer started and began to speed up. “Let’s do this!” Nazuna ran out on stage, and everyone cheered. Josh breathed in and did the same, the lights weren’t entirely on yet, but he could still find his station. He looked at Nazuna; she winked at him. They were about 10 feet apart. The main rhythm was coming in. Josh did what he needed to do, play the song. The second he started playing, Nazuna began singing.

The crowd started going crazy.

Shirou was still waiting, sifting through all the scents trying to find anything suspicious. No luck. Michiru was next to him, taking pictures of the musicians from behind the stage. Josh looped his rhythm section and picked up the guitar for the solo. Michiru was impressed at how he could move around on instruments like that, so were the fans. The fox man must have done some serious practicing. He placed the guitar back and kept playing the keyboard. The first song was coming to an end and was about to fade into the next. Josh then picked up his saxophone and started playing the intro to the next song.

That’s when Shirou smelled it.

Amongst the crowd smells, he picked up that of gunpowder and other explosive compounds; he turned to Michiru, “Michi, get out of here now.” Michiru was confused, “Why? What’s wrong?” Shirou tensed up, “Just do it. I don’t want anyone to freak out. I’ve got this.” Nazuna was singing the next lyrics as the pyrotechnics went off at the offbeat. Shirou was sprinting along the corridors, still in his scent vision, while Michiru followed him against his orders. The next song came in, and Josh was back to the keyboard while Nazuna morphed wings and flew up. The build-up came in, and lights slowly strobed before the smoke and confetti burst into the crowd.

Shirou needed to act fast; he didn’t know when it would go off.

Josh was back on guitar and giving it a good lick before the song faded out and back in. Holograms appeared, and each one moved over the audience in a different direction; the spectacle was incredible. Shirou called Yuji, “Tachiki here.” Shirou was still sprinting across the stadium, “Yuji, we have a possible Code Black. I’m going to try and handle it but have the squad on standby.” Yuji copied and called in the bomb squad. The first three songs had finished up, and now it was Nazuna’s turn to play the piano. Josh smiled in her direction, giving her a thumbs-up as the intro came in, and he picked up the guitar. Shirou and Michiru arrived at the electrical room for the stadium after following the smell there. Shirou broke down the door and ran to the end of the dark room. There was a lockbox where the smell came from, and it reeked with explosives. Nazuna was doing well on the piano, and the crowd was amazed at the concert so far. Shirou ripped open the lockbox and found the package inside. Unwrapping it, he found the last thing he expected. It was just vials of chemicals surrounded by gunpowder. On top of which lay a note; “Gotcha Shirou ; )”

“No…”

The two musicians were now onto the next song in the concert, and everything was going great for them. Shirou was back on the phone with Yuji sprinting to the top of the bleachers so he could get a better vantage point, “EVACUATE THE STADIUM NOW THE BOMB WAS A RUSE I REPEAT IT WAS A RUSE!” Michiru morphed into her wings and went in to get her friends off the stage.

But then it happened.

A blue-orange flash erupted from behind Josh’s side of the stage.

Dust, debris, smoke, and rubble peppered the audience.

The entirety of backstage was ablaze.

Nazuna tried getting up but was struggling; her ears were ringing. She looked over to where Josh was supposed to be but couldn’t find him. She tried to get up but couldn’t. She started crying softly as Michiru landed next to her; Michiru spoke inaudibly to her best friend, whose ears were ringing too severely to hear. The crowd was rushing out of every exit possible as police sirens wailed. Shirou jumped off the top of the stadium into the field and ran over to the stage. The entire backstage was ablaze, everyone inside dead. Michiru yelled to Shirou, “Find Josh! I’m getting her out of here. Michiru took off with Nazuna and exited the stadium. Another blast ripped through the stage, sending Shirou flying back across the field. As he recovered, he saw Josh standing forlorn across from him. How did he survive all that? “Josh! What are you doing here? It’s not safe!” Josh stood still. Maybe he didn’t hear him, “JOSH -”

“My name’s not Josh…”

Shirou’s eyes widened.

“… It’s _Ryan, Ryan Fuller._ And I’m here to _kill you_.”

Shirou switched to his beast form and growled, “You lying _COWARD_!” Ryan snapped his fingers, walking forward as blue streaks of flame ignited along his arms. Shirou had never seen anything like it before. He growled at Ryan, “It was you all along… huh… you spineless fuck, killing all those people and pretending to play dumb?” Michiru landed next to Shirou, “Josh, wha-” Shirou cut her off, “His name’s not Josh… and _he’s_ the _terrorist_ ….” Michiru backed up, completely and utterly shook. “Get out of here, Michiru, this doesn’t involve you… This fight is between me… and him.” He said, pointing at Shirou. Shirou looked at Michiru and nodded, “Let me handle this; we don’t know what he’s capable of.” Michiru nodded sadly and backed off out of the stadium. “Why did you do it, Ryan? Why would you betray your kind?” Ryan scoffed, “ _MY_ kind? That’s rich, Shirou; I used to be _human_! I was turned into a beastman _by_ _humans_! So I could kill you, _for_ _humans_!” Shirou spat, “What the hell even _are_ you… other than a bastard?” Ryan laughed, “I’m a seventh-generation biologically engineered beastman. They built me to kill the Ginrou. That _is_ you, right, Shirou? The great silver wolf?”

Shirou growled.

“The news team? Baiting Michiru to take me in. The tanker? Testing your response time. The skyscraper? To see if you’re immortal. The concert? To provide an _arena_.” The flames on his arms glowed a bright blue as he lunged at Shirou, who blocked his advance, stopping him in his tracks. Ryan broke free and threw energy at Shirou, who dodged as the two started back towards each other. Ryan jumped over Shirou and whipped energy at him, igniting everything it struck in scorch marks. Shirou slid back and launched himself toward Ryan, who dodged, hitting Shirou in the stomach with a charged up punch from one hand and then cold-cocking him over the head with the other. Shirou then grabbed Ryan and shoved him against a pillar. Ryan then ignited the column with energy, exploding it and pushing Shirou away. Ryan then began to sling discs of energy at Shirou, who dodged all but one, which hit him in the torso, exploding and launching him back across to the stadium's other side. Ryan then charged up a beam and fired it at Shirou, plowing him up against the wall. Shirou knew he couldn’t defeat Ryan in a standard beastman form.

“You’ve brought this upon yourself….”

Shirou transcends into Ginrou before Ryan’s very eyes, his smile grows, “I see I _do_ test the patience of a _GOD_.” Shirou fires a beam of light at Ryan, who crosses his arms, forming an orange and blue energy shield. The two energies collide, stalemating the two combatants until Ryan wields Shirou's own beam against him. Shirou dodges the reversed beam and flies up, gaining power before diving back down to the ground, knocking Ryan against the wall. Shirou then fires his energy beam at the downed Ryan, who summersaults away from it while shooting a ball of energy back at Shirou. Shirou dodges it, but only for Ryan to charge up a larger one that strikes him in the side. Shirou recovers from it just in time to avoid another lunge from Ryan, who then fires a beam at the godly form. Shirou flys up, but flack like explosions force him to do so evasively. Shirou deliberately misses Ryan, so the shockwave from the impact throws him back as he dove back down. Before Ryan can get back to his feet, Shirou charges him and knocks him up into the air, but Ryan recovers and chases Shirou with a beam of energy.

“Enough games.”

Ryan lands back down and ignites the ground below them in energy, manipulating the soil to trap Shirou in a prison of earth and flame. Ryan walked forward towards Shirou and began charging up power in his hands. But just then, Michiru uses her gorilla arms to knock him aside and pin him down. But Ryan uses his energy strength to break free, “I don’t want to hurt you, I just have to kill _him._ ” Ryan continues to try and dodge Michiru's punches before grabbing one and then the other and then uses his energy to blow her back across the stadium. “SHIT.” Ryan sprints away from Shirou, lunges, jumps, catches Michiru, and lands, protecting her from falling. After making sure she wasn’t hurt, Ryan turns back away from the now unconscious tanuki and towards Shirou, who is charging at him. Shirou grabs Ryan with his mouth and smashes him through wall after wall after wall before pinning him against the stadium's support column. Just as he’s about to finish Ryan with a beam of light, Ryan teleports away from Shirou’s grasp. Still reeling, he tries to fire another array of energy discs but misses all of them. Shirou then lunges at Ryan, who dodges and cuts into Shirou's side with a beam. Shirou launches up through the roof and then dives down where Ryan can’t see him and knocks the fox through another wall. Ryan is hesitant to get up, but Shirou isn’t and fires a beam right through Ryan, cutting a hole through the man and splitting him in two. Ryan’s two pieces lay smoking the pile of debris. After making sure he doesn’t get back up somehow, Shirou transforms back into his standard beastman form and walks over to Ryan. The still alive top half of Ryan looks Shirou in the eyes and smirks, “Good… fucking fight… I… I had a grand time… give… Michi and Naz… my regards…” Ryan then closes his eyes as his world fades to black. Shirou notices a glint around his neck. He leans in and removes it, reading the inscription.

Fuller  
Ryan L  
6734192846  
O Neg  
Baptist

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I planned the twist the entire time.


	10. Revival

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ryan wakes up, surprised to be alive.

Ryan awoke with a gasp. He could barely breathe and didn’t know where he was or what had happened. He had fragments of memories that were slowly coming back to him… did he… die? His head felt like melting ice, or was it the opposite? As he regained consciousness, he noticed lights surrounded him… and that he couldn’t move his limbs. What was going on? He focused on these fractured memories, trying to organize his thoughts. They _were_ coming back, though, and that’s all he needed to remember that, yes, he’d _died_. He remembered the fight with Shirou. He remembered the concert. He remembered Nazuna… Nazuna… and Michiru. Then… he remembered why he was there, to begin with. He placed the memories of his mission back together, to kill the Ginrou. All the happy thoughts faded when he realized he’d not only failed but used and betrayed people who cared about him to do so. “Fuck.” He said out loud.

“Oh good, so you _are_ awake.”

“Huh, who’s th-” Someone delivered a hard blow to his head. “From now on, you don’t speak unless asked a question, got it?” Inside Ryan’s still fuzzy head, he got the picture, “Y-Yes.” Ryan tried to move his head, but he soon realized that he was strapped down somehow to a table. Was he being interrogated? “Who sent you to Anima City?” Ryan couldn’t tell him, “I can’t s-” the voice delivered another to his head. “I can do this all damn day… you have a healing factor after all. Whatever I do to you, your body will just heal back, and we can keep this up for eternity. It’s your choice; you’ll still feel the pain. Wouldn’t want to have to resort to more, primitive methods to make you spit it out.” Ryan understood, but he knew they would come for him… however, he _did_ fail the only mission for which he’d ever been trained.

“Do I have to repeat myself?”

Ryan’s lip was zipped. Electricity coursed through his body. All his cells felt like they were ablaze. All he could think about was what the General would do when he found out about his failure. The voice asked again; Ryan didn’t care; he just braced himself as the electricity shot pain all over his body. “Does this jog your memory?! Who sent you here?” Ryan felt like crying. He wished he’d never been born. His life was just one failure after another, it seemed. Here in Anima city, he at least found a few people that he could be around, but he fucking gave them up for that piece of shit, General Lafette. Electricity hit him again. Ryan started to cry. He just wanted to go home. He just wanted to live everyday life, but _they_ took it all away from him to make him _this_ fucking monster. This _quantum menace_. Why did he even trust them? Why did he work for them other than the Court Martial? He’d rather have been in military prison. “Fuck this. I’ll tell you fucking everything.” The figure was silent, “Not because of the pain, not because of this scenario. But I genuinely hate that they made me do what I did. Whatever happens to me, I want you, whoever you are, to know that the time I spent in Anima City as Josh MacMann was some of the happiest days of my life, so let’s begin at the start.

I was a United States Marine, in my early twenties, serving in Kuwait. It was the second battle of Fallujah when I get a call for an artillery strike. Comms were choppy; I couldn’t really understand what was said. Apparently, they were pinned down outside a compound. Radio operator gets hit, and their CO gets on the comms. I swear to you right here right now, I put _exactly_ what I heard into the strike package. The strike package kills 4 of my fellow marines. Since their CO was a Lieutenant and I was just a Corporal, I get hit with the court-martial.

They give me an option, a lifetime in military prison, or go work for a United Nations shadow company. Me being as naïve as I was, of course, I didn’t choose prison. But what I got was worse. I wasn’t working for them as much as I was a free lab rat for them to play around with. They kept me in peak physical shape but neglected all my other wants and needs. I was a ‘prisoner with a purpose,’ they used to say. They’d laugh about it too, the fuckers. I’d hear them bringing the prisoners in the cells near me back and forth, beating them sometimes also. I had nothing to me at that point but anger and determination to survive. I guess that’s why the “treatment” worked so well for me.

Eventually, it was my turn to leave the cage they kept me in. The bastards took me to a table much like this one and did the same shit, except they stuck all kinds of needles in me. I can still remember it like yesterday; that shit _burned_. It burned like my insides were becoming my outsides and back and forth between the two. They then tossed me on a gurney and wheeled me into “Observation.” I remember seeing blood on the ground and thinking that no matter what, that wouldn’t be mine. They then sedated me, and I fell asleep.

When I awoke, I was a beastman, a gray fox. I remember how happy they were to see that it worked. I just thought of myself as a monster, but they saw me as some prize pony at the state fair. Two days later, I’m walking down the hallway, and one of the guards asks me if I’m the new guard dog, if I’m house trained yet. Me, being full of anger, punched the man as hard as I could. It turns out I was a prize pony after all because when I stuck him in the head, it carried the same force as a baseball bat. I crushed his skull against the wall on accident, killing the man instantly.

Instead of being reprimanded, they started giving me pills and shots, running blood tests and marrow tests, hell, and even biopsies. It turns out; the treatment worked for me. I was the first one to survive. They then took everything from me except my dog tags and sent me off to New Mexico; they even took my name. I was no longer Ryan Fuller; I was 07, the seventh generation attempt at making a weaponized beastman. At this point, I met General Lafette. He was the man in charge of a group called Beowulf Biotech. They were the shadow company of the UN. Where I was before was a shadow company of them, for liability reasons. But now I was with the big dogs.

They had me practice different ways the scientists would think up for activating what they called “Quantum Coherence.” I never was a science person, so I didn’t know what the hell they were talking about; I just tried the shit they told me to try while monitoring me to see what did within my body. We kept doing this until I could wield the energy I do in the ways I do now. We started from scratch, built it up from nothing. One thing I noticed was that I wasn’t aging. I was just staying the same. Years passed. Eventually, we got a new guy, 08. I had to train him… after that came 09. They kept honing their skills at pumping out these biologically engineered beastman weapons, apparently, but by the time I left, it had only worked for us three.

Once I was fluent in quantum coherence, they occasionally let me out when I wasn’t teaching others how to kill using the ‘QC’ or being taught valuable languages. The only thing that kept me going were the songs I played in my head during all the bad shit. When I got out the first time, they told me I could get any amenity I wanted. First time out, I got a really nice keyboard; second time out, a saxophone; third time, a guitar; fourth, guitar amp; etc. I built up my musical arsenal and taught myself to read and write music and play the instruments in the few amounts of free time that I had. It was all that kept me sane.

Then I got my big break. General calls me into his office, tells me to hunt down the Ginrou in Anima city. He hands me a package of shit to memorize, ‘my new identity,’ he tells me. So I got there, and I became Josh MacMann. I snooped around a bit to try and find leads, and all the crooks I talked to kept coming up with this name ‘Shirou Ogami,’ who’d been a legend in the parts for ages. But it wasn’t until I found footage of the Nirvasyl incident that it clicked for me that if it’s going to be anyone in this city, it will be this Shirou guy.

After a while, I devised a plan, tailed him around, using ‘QC’ as a camouflage for my scent. Found out he’s real fond of this Michiru girl, really protective of her. Eventually, I found out that Michiru would be on TV with a human diplomat; I found out where and put my plan into action. Killed every human in the penthouse before she got there and went coherent, basically teleporting away to the docks. I had a drone with a bag of spices fly from the penthouse to the port; then I threw them on this bird dude who was trying to hustle some people, figured if anyone deserved to get fucked up, it’s him. Then Michiru and Shirou came, I got to play hostage.

What I didn’t expect, however, was how good it felt to have actual social interaction again. I felt like the weight of the world was lifted off me, so I just laid low and talked to Michiru for a bit. I helped her out with a few things here and there… it felt good. Then I knew I had to get back to figuring out the Shirou situation. I needed to see how fast he’d respond to an attack, so I set a bomb in a tanker at the port. I was with him that morning at the registration office, so I checked how long it took before he showed up in the cameras on tv. His response time was impressive.

Next, I needed to see if he was genuinely immortal. I blew up a skyscraper. I watched from afar for a bit, and then when the top fell off, it was just the waiting game. Sure enough, I heard him back in his room that night. No one could’ve survived that but a Ginrou, or me apparently, sorry it’s the first time I’ve fucking died. Around that time, I started teaching piano to Nazuna, which was some of the most fun I’ve had in a while. She began to really grow on me; I guess you could say I started to become as fond of her as Shirou was for Michiru. It felt good.

I needed to find a place to fight him, so I suggested to Nazuna that she perform a concert. I knew that one small explosion would send the crowd away. The stadium was a perfect place to fight, so I suggested that’s where Nazuna performs. Now that I could see how fast he responded, I put a scentless chemical on a box of bomb materials and hid it in the electrical room inside a lockbox. By the time the chemicals wore off, Shirou would go towards that fake bomb and not the real bomb. I did the math, and I had about two songs before he got there. Then the bomb went off; we fought, I lost. Big woop. There’s my pitiful story, are you going to kill me now, or at least try to?”

“No.”

Ryan was confused; he didn’t know why they wouldn’t kill him. They had everything they needed. “We’re going to run tests on you.” Oh great, more torture, “Thanks, guy, I love being a lab rat. Big fan right here. Definitely don’t want my miserable existence put to an end.” But then something unexpected happened to Ryan, they were removing the straps holding him down. “Get up.” The voice said. Ryan did so, rubbing his wrists. He was in a hospital room of some sort. There was a machine, two poles on a circle with some other objects hooked up together in a crescent formation. “What is this?” He turned around to face his interrogator.

Shirou was standing behind the table on top of which Ryan had been lying.

“Just step inside the circle; I hear it’s less dangerous than a CT scan.” Ryan obliged, he stepped inside the circle. The two poles spun up to seven miles per hour before the intercom started telling him what to do. They told Ryan to do different things inside the machine, just like back at Beowulf when the scientists monitored him to tell him how to attack. He was used to it; he didn’t care too much if he was honest. At least they weren’t poking and prodding him with needles like a high schooler’s autopsy frog.

By the time they finished up, Ryan felt drained. He didn’t even want to walk. It had been around five hours of doing different actions with intermittent breaks. It was hardly what he’d call a good time. Shirou was bringing Ryan through the halls of the medical center. They had given him back his green jacket and supplied him with a new pair of jeans and a red t-shirt. “What’s next for me, Shirou? Exile, maybe? Tying me to an anchor and dropping it in the ocean, so I drown over and over? What about putting me in a cage with feral animals where I can be eaten at will only to regenerate again?” Shirou stopped,

“Ryan… why do you hate yourself?”

This caught Ryan off guard; it seemed obvious to himself why he was a despicable lowlife worthy of the death sentence. “Why are you the one asking this, Shirou? You _killed me_ for being such scum! You heard my story! Why would I _not_ want to die! The people I cared about? I betrayed them! WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?!” Shirou looked at Ryan solemnly, “We want to free you from your misery. We want to stop Beowulf and make you a true beastman. We want you to stay here in Anima City, under witness protection.” Ryan thought about it. Witness protection?! What kind of game were they playing? He was a terrorist. “What does it matter, man… what use am I to you? I’m a terrorist; I’m a menace…”

Ryan started to cry again.

“How can Nazuna ever look at me the same after what I’ve done? How will Michiru ever want to hang out with me after all the people I’ve killed? Who the fuck will ever hold me close at night and tell me that I’m not a monster and that everything will be fine?” Shirou didn’t have an answer, and he knew that Ryan was right. After learning about what Ryan/Josh had done, neither of them ever wanted to talk to him again. The man was truly alone, in a hell all of his own making. Shirou honestly felt bad for the guy. It wasn’t like he was a bad person; he was just forced to do bad things his whole life.

“We’ve got you a nice place near the mountains; just lay low, Ryan.”

Ryan knew Beowulf would come for him; he knew that they would be on their way the second they found out Shirou was still alive. Ryan didn’t want that. Ryan wanted to go back to where he was before the concert. He wanted Nazuna back. He wanted Michiru back. He wanted the old Shirou back. But that day would never come because Ryan _had_ to be a terrorist. They went down the elevator to the underground parking for the Anima City medical center. Shirou showed Ryan to a car, and he climbed into the back seat. Shirou waved him goodbye. “Shirou…” Shirou told the driver to stop. “…Can you please tell them I’m sorry and that I regret my choices?” Shirou nodded solemnly. The car started, and the window rolled up. Ryan was once again on his way to isolation.


	11. Coming to Terms

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone's dealing with Ryan's deceit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shorter one this time, got some nice swing to it though I guess.
> 
> I'd also like to thank the people who've been actively following this, through any means. Y'all help more than you realize.

MK: Hey…

NH: Hey

MK: You okay?

NH: Read, 11:21 PM

It was around 1 in the morning when Shirou got back from the medical center. He was concerned as the wounds inflicted on him by Ryan had not healed completely yet. He was still weak from the fight and had no explanation why other than maybe the quantum energy used to inflict the wounds interfered with his healing factor. Shirou felt like he should have asked Ryan when he had the chance, but he doubted Ryan would even know. Either way, he felt slower and more sluggish with some movements. At least the gashes and holes in his body, along with other minor wounds _were_ healing, however. He stepped into the living room of the co-op to find no one.

He looked into Ryan’s old room, assorted amenities lying around. He went inside to find Michiru sitting on his bed, holding his saxophone. She was just examining the instrument in its dilapidated state, thinking about how all of it began. “You know, the one thing I don’t get… Is how he knew I’d be around the movie theatre that night.” Shirou had told her what Ryan said during the fight but hadn’t had the chance to tell the story from today. Ideally, he’d like to give the whole story to Nazuna and Michiru simultaneously. But for this conversation, it wasn’t necessary, “I don’t think he did… I think that might have just been fate your paths crossed.”

Shirou could see a tear fall from Michiru’s eye.

“Why am I such a vulnerable target?” She said in a self-condescending way. Shirou sighed, “Michiru, he had us all fooled; it wasn’t just you.” The tanuki knew this good and well, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that she led him to her friends… her _family_. “Why did it have to be him? Why couldn’t it have been another Alan…” It was evident to Shirou that she was beginning to blame herself for including Ryan into their lives. He needed to lend a helping hand for her right now. “Michiru, _I_ couldn’t even sense there was something wrong with him. He was under my radar the entire time too. Please… don’t go down the rabbit hole of blaming yourself.” Michiru looked up at Shirou, tears welling in her eyes.

“Can you… hold me?”

Shirou didn’t know what to think of that. But he disliked seeing her hurt more than he disliked physical contact. “Sure.” Shirou moved to sit down next to Michiru as she put down the saxophone. Almost the very second Shirou made contact with the bed, the tanuki’s arms went around him and her head glued to his chest. Shirou moved one arm up and around her shoulder. It wasn’t what Shirou would call holding her, but if it helped her emotions, then he didn’t care. However, he could hear her silently sobbing into his shirt. He rubbed her shoulder a bit, “Even if you hadn’t been in Anima City at the time, he still would have found me regardless.” Michiru held to Shirou tighter,

“You were about to lose…”

Shirou knew she was right but didn’t want to say so, “I would have found a way out of that mess. You don’t need to worry, little tanuki.” Michiru smiled a little, “Can I ask you a favor?” Shirou adjusted himself to face her a little more, “Sure. Go ahead.” Michiru sniffled and looked up at Shirou, teary-eyed, “Can I sleep with you tonight? I don’t want to be alone with my thoughts…” Shirou wanted to say no, or at least let her sleep in her room, but not _with_ him. All he had to do was say no, gently, yet firmly, “Okay, if it’ll make you feel better.” ‘What the fuck was that, Ogami?’ Shirou thought to himself. Michiru smiled and blushed lightly under her fur, “C’mon, we can go to my room, my bed’s bigger.”

Michiru opened the door to her room, and the two went inside.

Michiru shut and locked it behind them if one or both of the Horners came up and got the wrong idea about what was going on. Shirou took off his jacket and shoes while Michiru plopped herself down on the bed. “So, how do you want to do this?” Shirou asked. Michiru chuckled, grabbed Shirou by the shirt, and pulled him down into the bed. As soon as Shirou’s whole body was on the bed, Michiru slid over beside him, putting her head on his shoulder. Shirou reached over with his other arm and turned off the light. “Shirou?” Shirou closed his eyes, “Yes?” Michiru reached around his chest with one of her arms and held him tight,

“Why didn’t you answer me before when I asked if you liked anyone?”

Shirou did not want to go down _this_ path while laying in bed together. Shirou didn’t know; he just didn’t want to answer it, so he responded with another question, “Do _you_ like anyone right now?” Michiru was caught off guard by the non-response but didn’t care enough to argue, “There is _someone_. I wouldn’t say I’m in love with them, but they always make me feel good.” Shirou didn’t care enough to pry, “Hmm. That’s nice. Everyone needs their someone.” Michiru smiled in the dark and snuggled up closer to Shirou’s body, “Goodnight, Michiru.” Michiru felt a lot better at that moment than earlier. “Goodnight, Shirou.”

Across the street was a different story.

Nazuna sat on the piano bench wrapped in a blanket. She had not known what to do with herself for the entirety of the day. Finding out that Josh was the terrorist was a punch to the gut and a bullet through her heart. She felt desolate. Nazuna sat there in limbo on the piano bench, trying to force her hands to play a single note. How long had he been playing that game? Was everything he did with her and said to her just fake? Was she just a means to an end?! Nazuna shoved the keyboard off its stands violently and began to kick it. The keys started coming off, and the demo came on crackled. She began to stomp on it, but then Ryan’s recording of Night Running came on, through crackly speakers.

Nazuna began to cry

She fell to her knees and just cried. “Why the fuck did you have to be the _bad guy_ … Why couldn’t… why couldn’t you have just been Josh… why couldn’t you have been that funny dork who always knew what to say… why…” just then, the recording switched over to something else. “Hello? I, uh, don’t know if you can hear me through this shitty mic, but I wanted to let you know that you’re a pretty neat person, Nazuna. The time I’ve spent with you *kzzt* has been one of the first times th-” Nazuna could hear herself in the background, “What are you doing?” “I’m recording a message.” *kzzt* “On the _keyboard_ , gosh, *kzzt* J-Josh, sometimes I just don’t kn-kn-know abou- *kzzzzzzt*.” It cut off as the keyboard died. She remembered that moment.

She sobbed, holding her legs to her chest.

She sat there in the studio rocking back and forth, hoping, praying, that somehow it was all a dream, that he didn’t do the things he did, that she could be with him again. Nazuna needed someone to comfort her, she needed someone to be her Shirou right now, but there was no one. She needed to reach out to someone and tell them that she was beginning to slip down a rabbit hole of sadness. She decided to reach out to Michiru, see if she’d want to watch a movie.

NH: Hey

MK: Delivered, 1:27 AM

NH: Michiru

MK: Delivered, 1:31 AM

NH: Can I come over

MK: Delivered, 1:38 AM

Nazuna sighed and started looking through her contacts. One stuck out in particular; Josh MacMann. She hesitantly opened up the texts and started reading through them. It was a mix of emotions for her; she’d smile, laugh, cry and blush as she went down her memory lane with the man formerly known as Josh MacMann. She had to try it; she couldn’t take it.

NH: Ryan?

JM: The Number You Are Trying To Reach Has Been Disconnected.

NH: Very funny

JM: The Number You Are Trying To Reach Has Been Disconnected.

Oh. He _is_ gone. Nazuna felt trapped. She felt like a caged animal unable to escape from its fate at a slaughterhouse. She needed to breathe. Running up the stairs, she sprouted her wings, and the second she saw the open sky, Nazuna took off. She flew over Anima city higher and higher. Farther and farther. She decided that she’d go to the mountains.

The air was brisk and nippy up high.

Nazuna didn’t mind; mostly, she just didn’t care. She wanted to be free, and this was her only outlet right now. Down below, everything looked like little toys. Looking up, she could pick out the lights of a passenger plane. She made it to a rock overhanging the edge of a cliff on one of the mountains and landed on it. Sitting down on a rock, she just looked out over the city, trying to breathe in and out. Her sad, half-lidded eyes gazed out over the scenery of Anima city. When they landed on the skyscraper which Ryan had blown up, she shuttered and closed them again. Putting her face in her hands, Nazuna began to cry gently again. There was nothing that could be done anymore.

She just had to move on.

About two miles away, Ryan sat in his safe house, rubbing his neck. The guards had asked him if he wanted anything to eat for dinner, to which Ryan ordered, “Get me three handles of cheap vodka. And two packs of cigarettes.” They asked him if he wanted food, he refused. Ryan took another drag from his cigarette and another long pull from his vodka. Hot damn, it sure was cheap vodka they got him. That stuff burned. He washed down the vodka taste with another drag from his cigarette. He walked over to the window and looked out on the city, wondering what his former friends were doing. He wondered if they even cared he was gone. He stumbled over to a CD player and popped in an Earth Wind and Fire CD. Let’s Groove came on, and he went back to his chair.

He got the attention of one of the guards.

The guard came over to Ryan, who took another big pull of vodka, “Ey, ya like Motown?” The guard shook his head, “Not really, I should pro-” Ryan cut him off, “Wha do ya like?” The guard was surprised, “C’mon, don’ be shy ‘bout it.” The guard cleared his throat, “Dubstep.” Ryan laughed, “Wai’ wai’ wai-t… what _kinda_ dubstep.” The guard was glad he asked, “Well, what I like, I wouldn’t exactly call dubstep, but others call it that.” Ryan threw his arms to the side in exclamation, “I know! Wha’s up with tha’? Wha’ groups n or artists ya dig?” The guard smiled a little, “Personally, I’m a big fan of KOAN Sound. The drums they do are insane to me.” Ryan took a drag from his cigarette and, smiling, blew the smoke in the guard's face. Realizing what he did, he put out the cigarette and apologized.

“Put ‘em on!”

The guard smiled fully, got out a Bluetooth speaker, turned it on, and connected to it. Ryan stumbled over to the CD player and turned off Let’s Groove. The guard asked Ryan if he wanted new or old, Ryan said to go with the old. The guard selected a track, “I think you’ll like this one.” He pressed play. Ryan liked it; it caught his attention. It was groovy, just in a different way. Then the bass hit. Ryan was digging it, “Wha’cha call this one?” The guard laughed, “I think you’ll like the name too, come to think of it… it’s called Sly Fox.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like and Subscribe to my Vimeo for more fun facts about the Sperm Whale.


	12. Conflicting Opinions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shirou explains Ryan's story with mixed results.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope it doesn't feel like I'm rushing forward with this chapter, or glossing over things that should have explanation to them. If I am, let me know. I feel pretty okay about this chapter, lmk what y'all think.

Shirou awoke to a phone call, Mayor Rose. “Ogami.” Barbara, on the other end, “Shirou, there are a few things that I need to tell you. Could you come down to my office in City Hall?” Shirou sighed, looking to his left… seeing that a certain tanuki had his arm pinned down, “I’m a little tied up with something right now. Can I come by later?” Barbara said sure, but to not make it too much later as the matter was urgent. The phone hung up with a faint *click* and Shirou put it away. He looked over at the sleeping Michiru. He needed to wake her up but didn’t know how to go about such a feat exactly. He couldn’t believe he let her talk him into this. He felt embarrassed. She’s 20 years old, Shirou, you’re over _1000_. How are you letting yourself do this? It hadn’t ever stopped him before. After all, even though he was technically over 1000, he was just perpetually 28. But this time, the idea just felt somehow wrong. What was he thinking? Why was he even _entertaining the idea_ of something more than just a friendship with her? Shirou put his head in his one movable hand…

…Just as Michiru was waking up.

She opened her eyes to see Shirou looking rather upset. She wondered what it was about; was it her? Was it the situation they were in together? Just then, Shirou released his head from its hand prison and pulled out his phone. Michiru just laid there and took in the features of his profile. She couldn’t help but notice that he was handsome. She was embarrassed that she even thought such a thing about him; he was just a friend. Still, it was a great way to wake up, having him next to her. She knew she needed to get up so he could as well, but she selfishly decided to close her eyes again and enjoy the fact he was her pillow.

However, the faint movements she made were enough to let him know she was up.

“Sleep well, tanuki?” He spoke while she tried to pretend she was asleep. She attempted to re-cuddle up to Shirou, but Shirou withdrew his arm and got out of the situation, leaving Michiru alone in bed. “I’ve got to go see the Mayor,” he told her, “Try to stay out of trouble.” Michiru knew that she wouldn’t be getting into trouble. The only trouble that she thought she’d be in was with Shirou, who she made sleep in the same bed with her. She was still embarrassed she resorted to such childish ways of comfort, but it did feel good to her regardless.

Shirou was quick about getting to city hall.

He got on the elevator and rode it to the floor where Barbara’s office was on. Getting off, he adjusted his appearance ever so slightly just to appear more cleaned up than he actually was. Walking up to the doors, he felt like he was guilty of something, not knowing what. He swallowed the pride that made him feel that way and knocked on the door. “Come in, Shirou.” He opened the door and entered the Mayor’s office. “I’m sure you’re wondering what all this is about… It’s about Ryan.” Shirou was interested in anything new that she had to offer about him. “What is it?”

“He’s fully coherent.”

Shirou, not knowing what that meant, had to ask again for an explanation. “Ryan isn’t just sitting in the middle of the river, becoming coherent. He’s able to _control the flow._ In the Venn diagram example I used before, Ryan can take the intersection point and move it anywhere within the circles he wants. It’s not that he’s a stationary recipient. Ryan’s an active controller. I heard your report of what he said under interrogation, and we need to be careful. We need to treat Ryan as an asset because if he’s right, and there’s a 08 and 09, then they’ll be coming for you too.” Shirou frowned, “I know. But remembering the way he put it, he’s the one who taught them to be coherent. They must be weaker than him by any means. I killed the teacher, how can the pupils stand a chance?”

Mayor Rose disagreed,

“Shirou, you’re weaker to them now. Your healing factor isn’t covering the quantum damage as fast as it covers normal damage. This next time there will be two of them, and you need to be careful not to put yourself in danger where you might be killed for real. I heard about him trapping you in the earth, if Michiru wer-” Shirou cut her off, “I know what would have happened if she were not there, Barbara.” Rose frowned, “We haven’t even gotten to the fact that Beowulf Biotech technically doesn’t exist. Ryan is right; it’s a shadow company, it’s not something where we can search up their info. But if this ‘General Lafette’ is who Ryan says he is, I doubt he’ll let Ryan go. We have to be prepared to interact with this man. Negotiate terms even.”

Shirou was displeased.

“We’re going just to give this _biological weapon_ back to _Beowulf Biotech?_ You heard what they did to Ryan; how do you think they’ll treat his failure to kill me? He has a healing factor, Barbara. They probably are just going to torture him over and over until he gives into wanting to kill me again.” Barbara Rose was shocked at this, “Since when are you on his side?” Shirou deadpanned, “I’m not on his side, but both he and I had fate decide for us to become ‘monsters’ without our input. He hates himself, Barbara, who wouldn’t if someone yanked them out of their life to become a lab rat against their will because of something that wasn’t their fault.”

Barbara disagreed again.

“Shirou, are you believing the drabble this monster gave you? He lied to you for weeks. Why would you start believing him now? He’s an actor on a stage. He’s not human. He’s not beastman. He’s nothing but danger incarnate.” It was Shirou’s turn to disagree. “That’s not what my gut says. He tried to kill me and then confided in me, not because of the torture, but because he hated what he did.” Barbara stood up, “Don’t you realize he’s just trying to play his way out of our custody? Why would you ever try to defend him after he tried to kill you?!” Shirou stood up to face her, “Because of the way he _cried_! Because of the way he cried when he realized that the most important part of his life, he _betrayed_ for an _asshole_ _General_! Because of the way that he wanted to _DIE_! I could hear it in his voice! After a thousand years, don’t you think I’d be able to tell if it’s a direct lie or not? He _HATES_ himself!”

Barbara was taken aback.

Shirou sat back down, “Listen; he avoided me the entire time he was playing the game of Josh MacMann. He didn’t even know it was me when I was interrogating him. He spilled out his guts about his whole life without even trying to fool anyone; his head strapped to a table. All he could see was the lights above him, and he spilled out everything.” Rose didn’t see it that way, “How do you know it wasn’t just a ruse? Again. How do you know it wasn’t just him tugging at your heartstrings like he did Michiru?” Shirou sat and thought for a second about it, “Because if he were truly a bad person, then he wouldn’t have gone for the most minimal amount of casualties possible every time he attacked.” Barbara nodded solemnly, “Then I guess I’ll just have to trust you on this one, Shirou. What’s your plan?”

“I believe we can use him to bring Beowulf to justice.”

Back across town, and an hour later, Nazuna woke up in her bed. She had ended up drinking half a bottle of wine and felt terrible. She looked across the room to see the carnage she had inflicted upon her apartment. Embarrassed, she pulled the covers back over her head and tried to return to sleep. However, her phone started to ring. She groaned and looked at the caller ID. It was Michiru. She denied the call, needing more sleep before she could deal with anything that day. However, as soon as she did, the call came back to haunt her. This time, she picked up.

“Hey…”

“Nazuna, Shirou wants to talk to us… It’s about Ryan.” Nazuna blinked slowly, not knowing what to expect. “What about Ryan. He’s a terrorist. What more do we need to know?” Michiru paused, “Apparently, there’s a lot more to the story than that.” Nazuna wasn’t convinced, “Michi, he _killed_ people! Why would I want to hear any more about his terrible wrongdoings?” Michiru knew she was hurting, “Because we only knew him for a tiny part of his life. Shirou’s saying that there’s more to him than just what we know.” Nazuna, having tried her hardest to move on, apparently was being drawn back in by people she knew only wished the best for her.

She agreed to come over.

Shirou was waiting for her in his room. Michiru had already taken a seat on the couch, motioning for Nazuna to do the same. She did. Shirou began his speech; “I know you two are not the biggest fans of Ryan Fuller at the moment, but there are things about him you need to know for you to make an accurate judgment. He’s not who you think he is, even at this point. He’s someone who’s past dictates his actions and his future.” The two girls looked at each other, then back to Shirou, waiting for his next segment to begin. “First off, he was a Marine in the Gulf War, the second battle of Fallujah…”

Shirou explained Ryan’s story.

“So… if Ryan’s supposed to be such a good guy at heart, why did he feel so comfortable lying and killing? Riddle me that, Shirou…” Shirou knew it would come, “It’s because he doesn’t know any better than to do what he does. Killing and lying are all he knows. But you two, you two showed him that there’s another way. The way of being yourself, the way of life.” Michiru rolled her eyes, “He’s a murderer! We taught him jack shit when it comes to being yourself!” Nazuna wanted to agree but thought back to the night before with Ryan’s message on the keyboard, “I think he could be good.” Michiru shook her head, “No, you just want to _believe_ he could be good. There’s a difference. People like him don’t change. You say he was a soldier? And that his whole life he’s been trained to kill? That makes him a menace. You cannot change my mind.”

Shirou once again disagreed.

“Michiru, I think you forget that most of my life was spent killing as well. Do you think I’m such a terrible person?” This statement caught Michiru off guard; she felt like she was between a rock and a hard place. She knew Ryan was terrible, but with Shirou comparing himself to Ryan… “Furthermore, I was more relentless than he was. If he were anywhere like I was when I was at his stage, then he would have killed a lot more people than just the few he did.

He doesn’t want to kill…

Haven’t you noticed that every time he tested me, it was always in a way that had minimal casualties?” Michiru and Nazuna looked at each other, Michiru speaking up, “But do you _really_ want us to forgive and forget what he’s done? What’s the end game Shirou? What’s the point of being friends with someone so ready and willing to backstab us?” Shirou was going out on a limb, but, “Because he likes us.” Michiru laughed, “IF HE LIKED US HE WOUL-” Shirou cut her off, “STOP. Imagine having no say in your life and being controlled at gunpoint to do terrible things, being trained to do terrible things, just because someone turned you into a _monster against your will._ ” This argument made more sense to Michiru, but she still didn’t like Ryan for what he did.

Nazuna, having been silent so far, finally spoke up.

“Well, he could have done more not to be a monster… No matter what happened in his past, he still had the choice to do or do not. He wasn’t just _chosen_ to be a monster; he also _chose_ to be a monster. We can’t just forgive him for the people he killed because you also killed, Shirou. He always had a choice, and he kept choosing wrong. At least you had a purpose in mind.” Michiru and Shirou looked at each other then back at the forlorn fox. Nazuna got up and left.

Near the mountains, a particular security guard was introducing Ryan to new music.

“So, I brought my vinyl player so you could listen to one of my favorites.” The security guard was excited to show Ryan more of the music he was into, and Ryan was excited to hear stuff he’d never heard before. For Ryan, having been deprived for so long had created a hole in his heart only music could fill, and the betrayal of his friends only accentuated it. All Ryan wanted to do was die at this point, but he couldn’t even do that as his healing factor would prevent him from doing so every time unless there was nothing left.

Nevertheless, “Hell yeah, dude! What music you got to show.”

The security guard smiled, “Opiuo and the SYZYGY Orchestra, Live at Red Rocks. This man from New Zealand put together a 21-piece orchestra to play electronic music live with him.” Ryan was intrigued; he had never heard of such a feat. This security guard had opened his mind to a lot, as the only electronic music Ryan knew was from before 2005-ish. Ryan, thinking back, believed the last thing he had listened to before was Discovery by Daft Punk.

“We’ll start at the top on the record.”

Ryan gave the thumbs up as the guard dropped the needle onto the record. It began to play the first song. Ryan loved this, as he’d found someone who was not only willing to converse with him but also willing to share his musical taste with him. It was a dream come true at this point in his life. Having no one else but his witness protection guards dragged on Ryan a lot. But it was better than being in a hole. It was better than Beowulf Biotech.

The guard started tapping his foot to the music.

The song started great, and the build-up was very pleasant to Ryan. “How have I missed this entire kind of music for so long?” The guard laughed, “Just wait for the drop.” By this time, Ryan knew that term and had learned to look forward to it. Just then, the bass came in, and the drop hit. However, the crowd cheering in the background reminded him too much of the concert he shared with Nazuna. “Hey, Komichi?” The guard looked back at Ryan, “What’s up?” Ryan looked down, “I can’t shake the regret I feel for what I did at the concert.” Komichi, the guard, chuckled a bit, “Don’t worry about it, we’ve got your back, Ryan. Not even the people you worked for could find you know.”

Wait…

Ryan told the guard to stop the music for a second. “What’s wrong? You don’t like it?” Ryan was stone-faced. “It’s not the music. It's something much more serious.” Ryan went into the bathroom and took out a hand mirror to look at the back of his head. He angled it to where the back-right of his neck was and pulled up his long hair. Sure enough, there it was, the chip that transmitted his status to Beowulf. “Komichi, come here.” The guard approached Ryan, noticing the faint light exuding from the back of Ryan’s neck. “Komichi, I need to ask something serious of you. One: cut that light out of my neck. Two: throw it in the bay. Three: find me a new safehouse.”

The guard pulled out his knife.

“Ryan, are you sure?” Ryan nodded, “They mustn’t find me. If they do, it’ll be terrible for all of us. For all of us.” Komichi agreed, digging the knife into the back of Ryan’s neck. Ryan grimaced in pain as he dug around, trying to get the chip out. Finally, after about half a minute, Komichi dug out Ryan’s chip. The chip recognized it was removed and turned red while starting to beep. Ryan grabbed it and threw it on the floor, crushing it under his heel. “I didn’t know it would do that. Sorry. Thanks, by the way, but we need to leave now.”

Meanwhile, in New Mexico.

In a room full of cigar smoke, a voice shouts out, “Sir! 07 has gone dark!” A man walks over to the voice’s station, taking a puff from his cigar. “What was his status before?” The worker types away on his keyboard, “Nominal, sir. But the transplant signaled it was removed right before he went dark… General?” Lafette takes a drag from his cigar, “Send in the skeletals; we move in on this _now_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Opiuo and the SYZYGY Orchestra, Live at Red Rocks is also on Spotify. Personally I think it's quite spectacular.


	13. Invasion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beowulf Biotech sends their regards.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was so much fun to write, I really hope it's as enjoyable for you as it was for me.
> 
> In other words, here's where it gets intense.

“Mayor! You need to see this.” Mayor Rose’s assistant handed her a tablet which showed the tsunami buoys surrounding the city. More specifically, it showed a disturbance among them slowly approaching Anima City. “This can’t be right; there was no earthquake.” The tablet lit up with a proximity alert, giving an evacuation countdown, as the automated tsunami early warning system began to go off across the city. The emergency broadcast system began to instruct all inhabitants to move to higher ground, to get to the mountains and away from the shoreline while the siren wailed.

Shirou stepped out onto the roof of the co-op.

Beastmen down below were in mass, using every method possible to escape the impending doom. “There was no earthquake.” Michiru, who had thrown some items in a go-bag, turned to him, “What?” Shirou, unphased by any of it, turned back to her, “There can’t be a tsunami without an earthquake. If we didn’t feel it, we would’ve known about it hours ago. Whatever triggered the EWS is something else. I need you to fly me up to a vantage point.”

Across the street, Nazuna saw the pair take off.

She was curious enough to follow them up to the vantage point Shirou ended up picking out. Landing, she asked what was going on. “We don’t know, but it’s not a tsunami.” Shirou pulled out his cellphone and went to the camera app. He used the zoom function in place of binoculars to look out at the ocean. He could see what appeared to be a large wake coming from nothing, no, two of them… three of them… five of them. The three watched from the vantage point as five massive submarines began to surface off Anima City's coast.

Most of the Populus had evacuated under the pretense of a tsunami.

The Mayor got on the emergency broadcast citywide intercom. “We have reports that the tsunami early warning system made a mistake. However, please shelter in place somewhere on high ground away from the shore until we are certain.” Anima city was a ghost town. Empty streets where people once walked contained nothing but abandoned vehicles and dropped items. Shirou was still watching the submarines as he called the Mayor. “Shirou? What do you see?” Shirou was about to speak when the front of one of the submarines opened, and armored landing crafts began to come out of it.

“Rose… it’s an invasion force. Beowulf forces, most likely.”

Slowly, one by one, each submarine began opening its front, releasing the armored landing craft into the water. The three watched from their vantage point as more and different types of ships started to exit the submarines. Suddenly, hatches on each sub's back began opening; helicopters began to rise up and out of them. The helicopters began to crank up, and three of the subs released a cylindrical object. These objects were picked up by helicopters that flew the cylinders to different parts of the city. Soon, some of the craft that had made it to the beach and began deploying their payloads. Armed robots started to march out of some, vehicles coming out of others.

Suddenly, a voice came over the emergency broadcast system that was not the Mayor.

“As of now, Anima City is on lockdown. We do not want to hurt you, but we _will_ shoot on sight if you do not comply with these rules. One, stay where you are; your best chance is to remain inside at this time. Two, do not engage with the robots by any means; they are here for your protection. Three, do not resist our demands by any means. We are searching for a specific beastman by the name of Ryan Fuller. This beastman is a fugitive and a terrorist with malicious intent. He is extremely dangerous, and we are here to remove him from your city so you can all get back to your normal lives… safe and secure.”

Mayor Rose knew this was wrong.

Deep in her heart, she felt like this was all terrible news for everyone in Anima City. She hadn’t seen this level of invasion since World War Two. She wanted to alert the Japanese prime minister of the situation, but when she tried to phone out of the city, the call was blocked… their signals were jammed. She could hear a helicopter landing on the City Hall’s helipad above her. She braced herself for what would happen next. A man in a decorated uniform, a uniform that belonged to no country as far as she knew, walked into her office as if it was his. Admiring the architecture, it seemed. “Wh-” Barbara began but was immediately cut off by the man, “I am General Gerald Lafette, pleased to make your acquaintance. You have a charming office, ma’am.” Mayor Rose looked at him suspiciously as she sat down in her chair. “I better cut to the chase then. I’m here looking for a particular project of mine… You see, he had gone rogue from our organization, and we need to bring him in to be… _deactivated_.” Rose knew she was in danger…

…that everyone in the city was in danger.

When Ryan heard the tsunami EWS go off, he knew what was happening. “Komichi, we need to leave _now_. They have my last known location.” Komichi laughed, “Don’t worry, we’re fine up here; we’re miles away from any place a tsunami could touch.” Ryan, wide-eyed and frightened, “It’s NOT a tsunami; it’s _Beowulf Biotech_. They’re here to bring me in.” He began packing essentials before throwing the bag on the ground and heading to the door. Komichi blocked him, “We can’t let you leave here, Ryan. The Mayor would have our heads!” Ryan started to panic, “Fine, I’ll use the window.” Turning around, Ryan sprinted to the other side of the room and dove through the glass window. He hit the ground a tad bit hard and rolled some ways before getting up and running towards the city limits.

He turned back briefly to look at the city, and it was too late.

He could see a faint glimpse of the five submarines parked in the harbor and saw the helicopters carrying the nodes to strategic locations. He was a dead man if they got their hands on him. He kept running as fast as he could up the hill towards the exit. Just then, he saw a truck round the corner up ahead, and he dove into the bushes next to him. He waited and watched through the shrubbery as multiple vehicles drove past the bushes. They must have off-loaded more equipment on the other side of the mountains. Once the convoy passed, he hopped out from behind the bushes and began to sprint forward again…

…until he heard the gunshots.

He turned around; he saw that one of the trucks had stopped in front of his old safehouse. He began to run back. Three skeletals were guarding the truck. Ryan charged up his energy and sent a ball of it straight into the middle of them, blowing up the robots immediately and tipping the truck over. The driver tried to get out, but Ryan hit him with a disc, decapitating him. Running to the door, he saw four skeletals on the inside and one human. Immediately he sent a short burst of a beam through the back of the human’s head, killing him right off the bat. The skeletals turned towards Ryan, who sent a flurry of energy discs across the room, hitting each one at least once, destroying all 4. He looked around; his former guards, including Komichi, were all dead. There was a phone on the ground. Ryan picked it up and put it to his ear, but he saw a streak of smoke from out the window. He jumped out the window again and sprinted behind a wall as a missile struck the safehouse, vaporizing everything inside.

Ryan knew Beowulf was playing for keeps.

Shirou had witnessed the missile being fired, “Ryan…” He looked at the two girls. “Michiru, Nazuna, get inside, now. Do NOT leave. I’m going to get Ryan.” Michiru and Nazuna sprouted their wings and returned to the co-op. Down below, an army of skeletal robots marched through the streets, beginning to check each building. Each one carried a machine gun. Shirou started to run along the rooftops towards the direction the missile was fired. Another streak of smoke scorched across the sky before impacting about a mile away from the last. Two helicopters flew overhead, Shirou jumped and grabbed onto the landing rails of one. The machine seemed to be unmanned as well.

Ryan slid into the basement of a house through an open window as the second missile impacted where he was a few minutes prior when he had to engage more skeletals. Inside he saw a family of four huddled in the corner. Ryan put his finger to his lips and signaled for them to lay low. The father and mother nodded as Ryan walked upstairs. Looking outside, he saw nothing. He made a break for it and sprinted out the front door and down the lawn just as two helicopters flew overhead. Was that… Shirou? The helicopters turned and deployed their 35mm cannons. Ryan began to run for another house, but one helicopter fired a missile into the living room, blowing Ryan back onto the street. Shirou climbed to the cannon as it began to fire, turning it on the other helicopter. The second aerial death machine became punched full of explosive filler rounds and began to cycle down, crashing into a house down the street and exploding. Shirou dropped off the rail and landed on the ground next to Ryan as the fox charged up a beam and cut the helicopter in half, blowing it up mid-air.

“Never thought I’d say this, but it’s good to see you, Shirou.”

“Likewise.”

A white streak appeared in the sky, and the two beastmen sprinted towards where it originated to escape its impact zone. The missile struck the street, sending burning shrapnel into the row of houses. As the two rounded the corner to the road one block over, six skeletals approached their previous location. The camera of one got a visual on Ryan and Shirou and turned, beginning to spray 7.62 incendiaries in their direction. The two ducked behind a car as the bullets impacted around them. The other skeletals were joining in the deadly effort. They were pinned down as another group appeared on the other side of the street in a pincer move. Ryan spread his arms facing each group of skeletals and created barriers from the energy in his hands. The barrier trapped the bullets in a field, protecting him and Shirou. Some of the skeletals from each group were caught in the crossfire, ripping each other to pieces. The ones that remained had to reload, yet Ryan released the barriers, throwing the bullets back to their origin points, taking out the rest of them. “We need a place to lay low and fast.” Shirou agreed; this was getting out of hand.

From the roof of the co-op, Michiru and Nazuna watched the launch of another missile.

“That’s the fourth one; they must be in danger,” Michiru said to her friend. Nazuna shook her head, “No, we are _NOT_ going out there to be shot at by _missiles_.” Michiru was upset, “We need to do _something,_ though! At least see if there are any stragglers from the evacuation in danger?” Nazuna bit her lip, “Fine, but one quick sweep, and we hide again. What’s going on out there isn’t like before with Nirvasyl; this is a _military invasion_. They said they wouldn’t hesitate to _shoot on sight_.” The two watched a fifth missile launch, followed by three helicopters heading towards a location near the mountains. “We go now.” Michiru morphed into her wings and took off, Nazuna following her.

As they were doing so, the sound of jet engines emerged from the distance.

The two looked around as two Japanese F-15J’s entered the airspace, heading over the bay. Suddenly, two Surface to Air Missiles launched from one of the submarines. The lead F-15 popped flares and banked hard right; the second one popped flares and banked left, but only seconds too late. The second F-15 was struck in the right engine, breaking apart over the slums. The lead F-15 pulled around lined up for a bombing run on the submarines as it got laid into by Anti-Aircraft guns, forcing the pilots to bail out as the jet spun out into the ocean.

Michiru immediately flew towards the parachuting pilots, Nazuna following.

“Michiru, you’re gonna get us KILLED!” She yelled at her friend, speeding up and grabbing Michiru’s leg. “This isn’t a good idea!” It was no use. Michiru was determined to get those pilots away from the submarines. The pair got within a mile of the pilot’s parachutes when Nazuna noticed another SAM fire… at them. Nazuna screamed as she climbed up Michiru’s back and closed her wings by force, sending the two into free fall. The missile hooked wide and missed them, not being able to track such a sharp angle. Nazuna released Michiru, and they both took back to flying. “MICHIRU, PLEASE!” Nazuna begged, and Michiru knew she was right. The two flew as fast as possible away from the submarines.

Another missile launched from one of the submarines headed towards Shirou and Ryan.

Michiru didn’t know where to begin at this point or who to try and save. She did know one thing, though, and that was Shirou most likely needed help. “Nazuna! Follow that missile!” The two of them did just that, following the smoke trail of the cruise missile to its destination. They were up in the hilly area of Anima City, where the wealthier beastmen lived in homes, not apartments. Looking down, they could see a path of craters they could follow to get to Ryan and Shirou. Michiru saw them and motioned for Nazuna to follow her down. They were almost on them when a flurry of bullets forced them to abort their landing and try somewhere else. An incendiary round hit Michiru’s left-wing, and she winced in pain as it went through her feathers, singing them as it did.

The two landed in the back yard of a house a block away.

They looked at each other in fear of what was going on. Michiru breathed in heavily and exhaled, heading for the gate to the back yard. Opening it, she hid back behind the fence as a group of four skeletals marched past. Waiting a few minutes, she motioned for Nazuna to follow as she exited the back yard and began walking down the street to where she remembered Shirou and Ryan being. Suddenly they saw them appear from under a garage door. The two began to run to them as two armored vehicles pulled up on the street behind them and began firing its anti-personnel cannon at Shirou and Ryan, who put up his barrier to block the rounds. Michiru and Nazuna hit the deck, waiting for one of their friends to do something, but they couldn’t. They began to crawl towards cover yet were suddenly grabbed by someone behind them. Ryan and Shirou watched helplessly as Michiru and Nazuna were pulled into one armored vehicle, and the doors were shut behind them, driving away as the other kept shooting at Ryan and Shirou. There was nothing they could do at the moment. Michiru and Nazuna were gone.


	14. Truth and Reconciliation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The fight continues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I planned on saying something really witty about this, like, 2 hours ago... had it all thought out and everything. But now I can't remember it for the life of me so just imagine I made you laugh.

The Japanese Maritime Self Defence Force was scrambling to deploy quick response units. Several destroyers, along with two helicopter carriers, were en route across to Anima City. Thirty-six Mitsubishi built F-15s screeched over the quick response fleet. The Helicopter carriers signaled for their F-35 jump jets to take off, all ten taking off vertically from the fleet. Switching their engines to horizontal, they joined formation with the F-15s deployed in response to the two shot down over the bay. The United Nations had since informed the Japanese Prime Minister that the entire operation of Beowulf Biotech had gone rogue, and it was apparent that they were using their PMC presence to antagonize Anima City for unknown reasons. The jets, loaded with anti-ship missiles and cluster bombs, made a beeline towards the subs.

But Beowulf had other plans.

The lead submarine opened up its conning tower, revealing what appeared to be a combination of solar panels and antennae. The Japanese destroyers fired their hypersonic cruise missiles at various hostile targets. The submarine further transformed, producing a reflective dish around the conning tower. The second the jets were in range, they got hard locks on the submarines and fired their ordinance. The dish-like structure on the main sub crackled and sparked to life, sending a beam straight up about 5 miles in the sky before it expanded into a defensive sphere around Anima City. The missiles from the jets and ships hit the defensive globe instead of their targets, unable to penetrate the field of quantum energy.

There was nothing the JMSDF could do anymore. Anima City was on its own.

Mayor Rose stood stunned, watching the barrier get hit over and over by destroyer shells and cruise missiles to no avail as one of the submarines continued firing rockets into the city. Behind her was General Lafette. He smiled sickeningly. “Sorry, Barbara, I know this doesn’t look good, but we couldn’t have any party crashers, right?” Barbara turned around and squinted her eyes at him as he continued, “Don’t worry about the damage. It’s all just collateral. The capture of this asset is of the most importance.” Mayor Rose grimaced, “How can you be so blind as to create this situation? Don’t you know what will happen once that barrier goes down? All of this will be in vain.” Lafette laughed, “Even after all these years, how can you still be this naïve? I wouldn’t put myself in this situation if I knew I couldn’t get out of it. After this and a few years of living underground, Beowulf will have all the power it needs to defeat any empire in the world. Think of all the lives that will be ultimately saved just because of those who die here today. _All thanks to beastmen_.”

Ryan and Shirou were slowly being surrounded.

“FUCK! MOVE!” Ryan shot the cannon rounds back through the armored vehicle, destroying it utterly. Ryan and Shirou ran through yet another yard as a missile impacted their previous location, knocking them off their feet. As they were getting up, the crack of a supersonic round split the air between them. An explosion went off in the distance. Ryan turned towards the tank with anger in his veins, overdriving his quantum coherency. He ignites his arms and ripples the ground beneath the tank, the energy and matter seeping up from the earth and dislocating as the tank starts shaking. Ryan’s eyes begin to smoke faintly as his irises turn blue-orange. Pieces of the tank begin to crack and dent, crumbling, dissolving, as Ryan claps his hands together, causing the tank to all-out implode in on itself until all of it’s components exploded.

Another missile was en route to them.

Ryan sees the streak of smoke, and, reaching out his hand, he causes the missile to detonate mid-air, “I’ve had it UP TO _FUCKING HERE_ with these GOD DAMN _MISSILES_!” He places his hands together and pulls them apart, chaining what appears to be static lightning between his palms as the energy grows into a ball. He pulls back, and then the ball widens into a beam as he shoots it across Anima City, finding its mark on the submarine which had been firing the missiles. The beam skewers the entire submarine for a few seconds, combusting the reactors in a chain of explosions that creep along the entirety of the ship. By the time the smoke had cleared, there was nothing left.

Ryan’s eyes and arms returned to normal as he stood there swaying slightly.

“Shirou… I feel…” he got down on one knee, then collapsed in the street. “Shit.” Shirou picked him up and ran to a manhole. Opening the cover, he climbed down inside the sewers, closing the lid back over them as he did so. Shirou ran down the sewer tunnel as long as he could until he found a maintenance door. Kicking it down, he hid Ryan out of sight and sat waiting against the wall just behind the doorway, listening. Sure enough, he could hear the mechanical running sound of the skeletals. As they ran past, Shirou tripped the first one, grabbed the second one in a spin move, and used its gun on the third and fourth one before ripping the weapon off and executing the first one. As the second one attempted to crawl away, Shirou ripped off its arms and legs, leaving nothing but its torso and head camera.

He needed to see if there was anything valuable about them.

Just then, the camera eye of the skeletal turned red and began beeping. Shirou grabbed Ryan and sprinted down the tunnel as the torso exploded. Four more skeletals dropped down a manhole in front of Shirou. He dropped Ryan and ran towards them as they began firing at him. Shirou ran along the wall and landed a kick on one, ducking and rolling past the others. He rebounded and tackled another, turning around and using it as a shield before grabbing it by the neck and throwing it into the one firing, knocking it over. The fourth one’s gun had jammed. Shirou walked up to the clicking skeletal, ripped off its rifle, and shoved the barrel through its camera. Pulling back the action, he shot a bullet through its skull. One of them had started to try and stand back up, but Shirou pulled the gun around and blew it’s head off.

Six more came running down the hall.

Shirou used the gun to take out four of them before he ran out of ammo, sprinting towards the remaining two as he ran up the wall, jumped over them, grabbed the head of one, and brought it down on the other as he landed behind the two. Ripping another gun off a dead skeletal, he executed the two he’d just incapacitated. He turned around to another six jumping down the manhole one by one. Shirou shot three bullets per skeletal, hitting them all in their cameras. He dropped the gun and picked up Ryan, continuing down the tunnel in need of an escape. He saw an access stairwell leading up to a building and, kicking the door down, took it as a way to get out.

Outside the sewer was no safer than inside, however.

Shirou dropped Ryan for a second to look out the windows. Two tanks were idling outside. Shirou returned to pick up Ryan, and in doing so, headed up to the elevator. Pressing the button for the 7th floor, he force-shut the doors, and they headed up. Upon arrival, Shirou carried Ryan to the windows; looking out over the buildings in front of him, he broke the glass. He sat contemplating if he could make the jump to the adjacent rooftop holding Ryan, yet just then, a tank shell pierced the floor below them, moving up into the floor above and detonating. The blast threw Shirou out the window and onto one of the buildings across. But Ryan’s body remained stuck inside as the skeletals approached from the stairs.

Shirou knew there was nothing he could do to get Ryan back.

They had been compromised from the start and had finally failed to protect each other. At this point, Shirou simply ran on, avoiding the machines hunting him down. He felt selfish yet knew he had no other choice. If he were to decide to return for Ryan, the whole group of them would be on him. He’d never be able to save the quantum gray fox from his fate, no matter what he tried. Shirou continued to run towards the bay.

Ryan awoke inside a cage.

He was moving, from what he could tell. Maybe inside an armored personnel carrier. He adjusted his position to see through the bars, but they received a kick from an unknown source. “Looks like our little pet is awake!” In all his anger, Ryan went to melt the handcuffs on himself and break down the bars so he could kill the offending assholes. However, he couldn’t… the second he tried to charge up energy, the handcuffs electrocuted him… electricity surging through his body like a lightning strike. “HAHAHA! Hey, man, you have to get a load of this! He tried it!” Another kick landed on the cage, “Stupid animal.”

Ryan was beyond livid but felt he could only blame himself.

The vehicle he was in reached a checkpoint, to which Ryan waited. The vehicle began moving again, and the light from the outside appeared to dissipate quickly. Ryan was trying to see if there was any possible way to identify where he was before he was thrown into a cell of hell. There wasn’t. By the time they reached their underground destination, Ryan had no idea what was happening… Only that two people were carrying his cage inside a building, and he couldn’t use his powers. He got a glimpse of one, the one who taunted him on the ride over. Vowing to make his death miserable, Ryan laid back down in the cage, waiting to be thrown in a bigger one… or maybe not. Ryan’s pen was pressed up against a window, and the cage door behind him was pushed forwards, forcing him into a bulletproof glass cell. The guards then shut the window behind him as he tried to see what was going on to no avail. Ryan was alone…

… or so he thought.

“Ryan?” A female voice breached his thought process as he turned around to see Michiru… and Nazuna. The two were also in handcuffs that stopped their powers, they looked almost dilapidated from trying to escape. “Hey! Don’t worry. This is all part of my plan.” He attempted to melt the handcuffs again, but the electricity swarmed through his body. He tried again, the same result. “Ha, hold on, just have to…” He clapped his hands together and tried pulling them apart, but once again, the electricity shot across his whole and stopped him from continuing. He sat down, looking at the floor, then back at the girls. “Heh, I tried at least.” Michiru and Nazuna looked at each other, then back to Ryan. “We thought you’d be on the other side of these bars, looking in. We thought you’d be on _their_ side.” Ryan laughed, “Who? These bastards?! Hell no! I hate their guts. They keep me in a cell for twenty years and let me out just to throw me back in another one.”

They remembered Ryan’s story. About how he’d been trapped in a desert prison as a lab rat to these people. They remembered how they had only freed him when he showed that he could kill. “Sorry, we just-” Nazuna began, but Ryan cut her off, “ _Don’t worry,_ it happens.” He sighed, "I look like the bad guy almost _all_ the time, Naz. It didn’t start here. But alas, I’ve run out of options now and am probably going to be brought aboard one of those submarines to be “ _deactivated_ ” oooh, spooky!” Ryan tried to make gestures with his hands from behind his back but was incapable of doing so.

If only he had a way of getting these cuffs off.

Michiru was going to take advantage of this time they had together, however. “Why did you do it, Ryan? Why did you betray us from the start.” Ryan sighed, “Listen, Michiru, you try being held inside a cell with no social interaction for over twenty years and then one day they come to you and say, ‘Mr. Seven, you can go free if you kill the Ginrou’, and yes, that’s what they sound like.” Ryan had used a ridiculous-sounding voice to represent the people at Beowulf Biotech. Michiru wasn’t satisfied, “You still took all that we felt for you as Josh MacMann and used it against us!”

Ryan scoffed.

“Yeah, no shit. That was the point. But let me let you in on a little secret, those were the best fucking days of my life. Bar. None. I wish I could take it all back, that I could have done it differently, but you’ve seen the nature of what’s going on outside. That’s the fruits of my disobedience to Beowulf. If I had just sided with you two and Shirou off the bat, they would have sent in 08 and 09 to clean up what I started. My fate was inevitable from the start, and none of it I would have chosen to do on my own.”

The two girls looked at each other, trying to assess what they just heard.

Nazuna spoke up, “So what _is_ your opinion of us then?” Ryan looked at them, glancing back and forth between their eyes. “Honestly? You two were the first time I felt like I had real friends. Betraying you guys was like putting a knife in my stomach and leaving it there for a few days to fester and get infected. The days following my fight with Shirou, when I was in the safe house? More miserable than the cage they kept me in at Beowulf because I had ruined two of my favorite relationships.” Michiru looked at Nazuna, then back at Ryan, “You’re not kidding, are you?” Ryan shook his head.

Ryan looked at the shocked faces of Michiru and Nazuna.

“I’m sorry I did what I did. I just… have some _issues_ because of Beowulf.” Nazuna rolled her eyes and smiled at him, “Yeah, we’ve figured _that_ part out, you dork.” Ryan smiled meekly. He knew how to fix this situation, however, by breaking them out. He tried to flow energy to his hands again, the electricity was painful, but he kept trying. “Ryan, it’s no use, just stop hurting yourself,” Michiru said, concerned. “It’s fine. I’m practically immortal, just a little pain.” Ryan forced out as the level of pain he was in increased.

He had to get out of these cuffs.

He tried something he hadn’t ever tried before. Instead of trying to manipulate the energy within him to get out of the cuffs, he began trying to control the energy within the cuffs to get out. He tried and attack, electricity shot through his body, yet he, in his mind, pictured the electricity as the energy he needed to control and returned it to its origin point. Suddenly, the cuffs glowed blue-orange and then began to melt off Ryan. With his hands-free, he blew off the lock to the cell. Turning around to the Michiru and Nazuna, he smirked sheepishly.

“Let’s roll.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Grammarly seemed to have a problem with "Manhole" being non-inclusive and outdated...  
> ...kids these days and their gender neutral sewer entrances.  
> Not that there's anything wrong with that. #Seinfeld reference.


	15. Lockdown

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The lockdown of Anima City continues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It feels like I've been struggling through this chapter and the last one. Sorry if they come off a bit dry.

The three captured beastmen ran through the halls of the medical center. “Hold on, stay behind me, stay in cover. If you two get shot at, hit the deck.” The words Ryan told them registered among the two girls well. They approached a central room with the number 14 painted on the wall. “We need to get to the parking deck and get out.” Ryan nodded, looking around the corner at the two Beowulf staff blocking their path. He had a plan.

Nazuna fell from behind the wall, catching the attention of the two guards.

“Hey, looks like our _friends_ are up…” the two staff members began approaching her with malicious intent, but upon reaching the hallway, Ryan came out, grabbing both of them by the neck, melting through their flesh and bone. Their bodies dropped out below them as their lifeless heads remained firmly on Ryan’s hands. He dropped them too as Michiru looked at the aftermath in disgust, “Why would you kill them?” Ryan laughed, “Would you rather them kill us? I know these men. They _deserve_ death for the atrocities they’re apart of.”

Just then, a group of four entered the room.

They looked around for their team members but landed their eyes on Ryan. Suddenly the four drew their weapons as Ryan put up his barrier, protecting Michiru and Nazuna. They fired all their shots and had to reload as Michiru stretched her arm around their necks and, morphing to gorilla strength, she picked all four up, hit their heads on a wall, and knocked them out. “You don’t need to kill.” She said, turning to Ryan and retracting her arm, “hurting them bad does the trick also.” Being good at killing, Ryan was displeased to get a talking to by the tanuki on how not to kill. As they kept moving forward in the medical center, he spoke up.

“If you knew these humans as I did, then you’d want to kill them too.”

Michiru wasn’t having any of it, “Maybe, but it’s unnecessary. It’s a permanent solution for a temporary problem.” Ryan rolled his eyes, “Thanks, _mom_.” They made it to the elevator, impatiently waiting for it to arrive. When it did, and the doors opened, they got on, taking it down the parking deck. When the doors opened again, Ryan looked around the corner carefully, no one, they were safe… for now. Ryan noticed one of the Beowulf armored vehicles further down the deck, motioning for the girls to follow, he began to run for it. Suddenly they heard the shouting of a security guard and the start of rapid gunfire. Michiru and Nazuna did, like Ryan said, and dropped to the ground immediately as Ryan turned around, ignited his right arm, and slung energy through several cars, detonating it and killing the guard. A second guard came out to try and shoot, but Ryan chopped his legs off with an energy disc.

“Get to the truck!”

Ryan, Michiru, and Nazuna ran to the armored vehicle as two more guards exited the elevator and started shooting at them. Ryan spun and slid to a stop, putting up a barrier between them and the bullets. The girls got in the truck as he tossed the shots back at their senders, killing them too. “Please stop killing!” Michiru yelled at Ryan as he got into the vehicle's driver seat, surprised that the former driver had just left it unlocked. The man put his hands on the dashboard, and they began to glow as he willed the engine of the car to start. The vehicle roared to life, Ryan couldn’t believe that his attempt had worked.

“Alright… here we go!”

Ryan gunned it in reverse, turned around, and headed for the exit. As they reached it, the barricade began coming down, and the safety pylons started to go out of the ground. Ryan put his foot down as far as the pedal could go as he shot over the pylons and smashed through the barricade, exiting the medical facility and leaving it in the dust. They were finally free from their prison sentence. “Where to now? They have the city locked down, and those robots are crawling around everywhere.” Nazuna was worried that they were out of the frying pan and into the fire. “We shut down all the AI.” Ryan told them, “There’s going to be three nodes that control all of the systems functioning in and around Anima City.”

Michiru said she remembered seeing the cylindrical objects being flown across the city.

“So how do we do it?” She asked Ryan. “I’ll blow them up. That usually solves most of my issues. We just have to get to them first. Beowulf will have them heavily guarded, so we have to be careful. Do you remember seeing where they were placed?” Nazuna and Michiru both thought about it for a second, but they couldn’t remember. “We need to keep moving. Get up somewhere high where we can spot them, preferably at night.” Michiru looked at her clock. It was 2 in the afternoon, “It’ll be a long time before nightfall, what till then?” Ryan thought for a second, “We lay low.” Ryan drove the APC through a guard rail and headed down into a subway tunnel.

Meanwhile, Shirou was all alone.

He had escaped the skeletals after Ryan’s capture and kept running. He needed to get somewhere to devise a plan on how to get Beowulf out of his city. He was considering boarding a submarine to see if there was anything inside it that might give him a hint on how to destroy the fleet. However, he didn’t really have any plan yet on how to do such a thing. He stopped to catch his breath inside a convenience store where he could hide in an aisle. He thought about going to the City Hall but thought that Mayor Rose was most likely gone by then and that there’d be nothing to support his plan or at least his intent to make a plan. He looked up and stared at the barrier blocking Anima City from the outside world. _That_ would be his plan, to get rid of that and let in Japanese defense forces. He needed a team…

…and he knew where to get one.

Shirou looked around for a car he could use. Finding one, he sprinted to it, broke the glass, and opened the door, climbing inside. It took him a few minutes to successfully hotwire the vehicle, but he started it regardless. He took off down the street, maneuvering his way around, stopped and abandoned cars, and started for the highway. He could see the helicopters patrolling and decided not to get up high in case they got a visual on him. Instead, he started driving below the highway to stay out of sight and get to where he was going. Occasionally there would be some buildings and such blocking the way, forcing him to get on a side road to continue, but getting down the ports wasn’t too much of an issue for him. He got out at the old fishery building and went to knock on the door. He waited for a second as the viewport slid open, then back closed. The door cracked, and a hand motioned for Shirou to come inside.

“I see Anima City’s finest needs my help again? To what do I owe the pleasure, Shirou.”

“I need competent men who can aid me on an endeavor. And the pleasure is all mine, Flip.”

It was around 4:30 in the afternoon, and the three fugitives, on the lamb from Beowulf, were sitting inside a subway train, firmly underground. They had been there for the good part of two hours, just waiting. The only thing they had to keep them the company was the conversation, magazines, and the occasional run to the stores inside the station to get food. Ryan was trying his hardest to sleep while Michiru and Nazuna were working on a crossword puzzle. “Okay, a five-letter word for despicable, intolerable even.” Nazuna scratched her head. Michiru tried to answer, “Bitter?” Ryan from across the way chuckled, “That’s six letters, Michiru.” Michiru was offended, “I’d like to see you solve it then. You can’t sit there laughing at us for being stupid.” Ryan thought for a second, “Wrong.” Michiru furrowed her brow, “No, I know I’m right.” Ryan shook his head, removing his jacket hood from his eyes. “No. The word is ‘wrong.’ Five letters, bad meaning.” Nazuna put it in, “Yep, that works. Get over here; you gotta help.” Ryan groaned, “I told you, I can help with the sudoku or the word search, but I don’t like crosswords.” Michiru rolled her eyes.

“Screw it; I’m gonna get another soda from that vending machine Ryan broke.”

Ryan saluted her, “Good luck, we’re all counting on you to stay hydrated out there, Michiru.” Nazuna laughed a little. Shaking her head, Michiru walked back up the stairs and out of sight. Nazuna leaned back against the train’s body, “So what do you think those Beowulf guys are doing right about now?” Ryan slid down on the subway bench a little, “Maybe setting up defenses and traps so that when we leave here, we’re just back in jail. _Or_ they already think they’ve won and are jerking off somewhere. Honestly, they’re probably just sending in more skeletals to sweep the city with greater efficiency.” The two sat in silence after that. “Michiru’s been a bit of a different person recently.” Nazuna looked up at the man, saying, “What do you mean?” Ryan shrugged, “It might just be me, but she’s seemed a little bit grumpy lately.” Nazuna chuckled, “It’s probably just you. Literally. She’s not your biggest fan right now. I mean, I wasn’t either when I first got the news.” Ryan was non-reactive to that, “Did you still remember to practice your piano?” Nazuna laughed a little, “No, actually, I broke the thing.” Ryan looked at her, smirking, “Yeah, that’ll definitely put a halt to practice.” Nazuna thought a little, thinking back to the message he had recorded, “That message you recorded, did… did you mean it?” Ryan froze, “You heard that… huh. I didn’t expect you ever to find it, to be honest.” Nazuna nodded; Ryan continued, “Yeah… I meant it. You’re fun to be around, Naz. Even for a stone-cold bastard like myself.” Nazuna laughed a bit at the last part and smiled.

“Alright, I’m back, and I brought some of that fizzy cherry stuff we tried earlier.”

Michiru climbed into the train as Ryan asked her, “Are you still mad at me?” Michiru, not knowing how to answer that directly, just smirked and gave Ryan a “Kinda, but not too much. You’re like, half-forgiven, at the moment.” Ryan smiled, looking at the tanuki, “How do I become full-forgiven, then?” Michiru’s smile dropped back to neutral, “You get us out of here alive… y’know, save the city and stuff.” Ryan nodded, unsure of how he didn’t expect that answer, “All in due time… things like this, you can’t rush. I’m going to take a walk. Good luck with that puzzle.” He began to climb out of the subway train, jogged up the stairs, and into the station's store section. Still being underground, he knew he was safe… for now. He pulled out his phone… still jammed. “For fucks sake. I hate Beowulf.” He thought about where Shirou could be and how much he’d appreciate the wolf’s help for the nodes. However, he settled on thinking Shirou to be off doing something just as important. “Just be safe.”

“So, where’s the plan? How are you going to get in that submarine.”

Shirou had an idea, “You know those robots that are running around everywhere? Grab a few, gut them. Use their armor plating as a disguise to sneak into the sub.” Flip thought about it, “And you know this will work how?” Shirou, stone-faced, responded, “I don’t, but neither do you, neither does anyone on _our_ side. It’s the best shot we have and worth the risk.” Flip puffed on his cigar, “You expect me to give you five of my best men just because it’s ‘worth the risk?’ I might not care about their lives on a personal level, but on a business level, they _are_ valuable.” Shirou countered, “If this doesn’t work, you may not _have_ a business after those monsters out there are done with us.” Flip puffed on his cigar some more, “You drive a hard bargain, Ogami. But like usual… you’re right. Even I have to admit. I will not give you my best men; however, I am going to fulfill your request on one term.” Shirou thought he knew precisely what he was about to be asked. “The Family gets amnesty for a month.” Shirou countered, “A week per death.” Flip smiled and extended his hand. Shirou took it and shook it.

“Always a pleasure.”

Shirou didn’t like the agreement, but he knew how leverage worked. He knew that the deal was the only way to get the situation to turn out in his favor. Five of Flip’s men were eventually handed over to Shirou, understanding that they were to treat Shirou like Flip until they returned to the Family… _if_ they returned to the family. The men agreed… as if they had a choice. Once they were officially under his command, Shirou turned to them “First, we must get the skeletals. Then, we gut them of all the wiring and structure that makes them tick. All we want is their armor. Please do NOT destroy the camera lens on the front; cut the wiring to it in the back, instead. We need to be quick and efficient in shutting them down. Otherwise, they will self-destruct. Do I make myself clear?” The men responded with a resounding yes.

“Good, grab your weapons and come with me.”

Slowly but surely, the six beastmen were able to round up six skeletals to strip armor off. It was a strenuous task; they had to get them one by one out of groups of four and six because of the group response requiring four to be shooting apart the other skeletals in the group while two subdued and dismantled one of the skeletals. Nevertheless, all six skeletals were eventually gutted and turned into armor. Now it was just time to figure out how to get to the sub. The six of them donned their skeletal armor, heading out for the beach. Shirou talked to them about how he planned on watching for patterns at the beachhead first, monitoring and seeing if there was any way to get inside the submarine undetected. He recognized that while the skeletal armor was a good way of not being seen, it wouldn’t matter what they were wearing if they were to break a rule.

It was going to be a challenging task to conquer.

Mayor Rose watched the sunset beyond the barrier in solemn silence. General Lafette was still sitting patiently across from her as she turned back around to face him. “How long do you plan on staying here?” Lafette grinned, “As long as it takes to capture our asset.” Rose squinted, “What I meant was… aren’t you needed somewhere that’s not my office. Why must you watch over me like this? What’s an old lady going to do that’s so terribly wrong.” Lafette focused on the Mayor, “I’m only needed right here until my asset is apprehended. Need to make sure you don’t try to play hero and get yourself hurt. For ‘old lady’ like yourself, you’re safer here with me. Don’t worry; I won’t bite. Not you, at least.”

Mayor Rose felt sick at her stomach.


	16. Powering Down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Michiru, Nazuna, and Ryan start their operation to take down the nodes, while Shirou starts his to take down the shield.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This might be the longest chapter in the story. I don't know, I don't really keep track. 
> 
> We're looking at about three more chapters at this point.

It was dark out, the three in the subway were ready to put their plan into action. “One of you is going to need to fly overhead and guide me,” Ryan said to the two girls. Michiru volunteered herself, “How will we communicate?” Nazuna stepped in, “I saw headset radios in one of the technology stores up the stairs.” Ryan was relieved; his plan wasn’t as easy. “I’m going to need something fast to drive as well.” Nazuna already had this covered, “Would that S7 work?” Ryan thought back to the Audi S7 that Nazuna’s producers had let him used before the concert, “Yes, that’s perfect. You two get those radio headsets, and then let’s bail on this subway bullshit. I’ll get the APC running again.” Michiru and Nazuna headed up the stairs as Ryan got in the driver seat of the armored car. “Do you think this plan will work?” Nazuna asked her friend, who nodded. “I actually have faith in this, but you sound scared, though.” Nazuna chuckled a little, “I just don’t want them shooting at you.” Michiru laughed, “I’ll be fine. Where did you see those headsets?” Nazuna told her that they were in a store across from the Lion Burger and ran over to it. Looking inside the store, there were many electronic items. Nazuna found the headsets and ripped them off the shelf.

“Let’s get back.”

When they arrived back down in the tunnel, Ryan had the APC running. They hurried down the stairs and hopped in. “All set? Not forgetting anything?” Ryan asked. They shook their heads, “No, we’re ready.” Ryan threw the truck in reverse and barrelled out of the station. Not too long later, they were topside and back on the hunt. Nazuna directed Ryan to the location of the Audi. They eventually arrived at a private parking deck on the east side of town. Hopping out of the armored vehicle, she entered a code on the side of the building and the door unlocked.

The three of them made their way inside and up the stairs. They got to the Audi and opened the packages to the headsets, “Michiru, are you sure you’re fine with this?” Ryan asked her, but she nodded, “It’s fine; I’d rather be in the sky anyways.” She put on the headset and turned it on. Ryan put on his, the two checking to see if the equipment worked… it did. Michiru gave the thumbs up and morphed her arms into wings, “Good luck down there, you two…” She winked, “…have fun~!” She took off out the side of the deck. Ryan and Nazuna got in the S7, turning it on and waiting for Michiru to give them the first set of directions. “Alright, the first one is down by the slums.” Ryan smiled, gripping the wheel, “That’s our cue, Nazuna.” She smiled back…

“Let’s do this.”

Near the Beowulf Beachhead, Shirou and flips men were watching from a roof. They had identified several patterns of activity amongst the skeletals and humans stationed there. Among the repeated activities, every fifteen minutes, Beowulf had begun to bring in new skeletals via the landing craft. If they could sneak on, they could get to the submarine. Now that it was dark, this should be easier. Shirou saw the lights of the landing craft returning. He put on his skeletal helmet and made motioned for the other five beastmen to follow him. They picked up their machine guns and headed over. Shirou briefly turned to them, “Remember, act like a robot.” The five nodded. They got into two columns of three as per usual skeletals; luckily, it seemed to be typical for skeletals to come in and out of the beachhead, so it shouldn’t be a problem to get through the gate. As they approached the gate, the men inside the guard posts watched them.

Regardless, they got in. Now the six just needed to get aboard the submarine.

The purring sound of a v8 engine ripped through the night as Ryan and Nazuna made their way to the first node. They were about three miles from where Beowulf had situated the node in the slums. Ryan was weaving around abandoned cars by any means and pushing the vehicle to around ninety miles per hour. Michiru came through the headset, “ Take a right four blocks up then left after three blocks, then continue straight into the slums, and you’ll arrive. Ryan did just this, once he made the left, he pushed the car to 120 on the straightaway while Nazuna held onto anything she could. Ryan could see the node now; it was on top of a five-story building, probably the tallest in the area. Ryan slowed down as he hit the parking brake, pulling a 180 and throwing it into reverse for the last few feet across from the building. Ryan got out of the car, charging up his quantum powers. He put his hands together and created the energy sphere as he pulled them apart, pulled it back, and shot it through the node, destroying all equipment on top of the building. Getting back into the idling car, he gunned it down the straightaway again.

This time, they were not the only ones driving away.

Two extra-large skeletals transformed into treaded vehicles with 20mm cannons on top of them and began to charge after the sports car. “Ryan! What are those?!” Nazuna asked, frightened. Ryan looked in the rear-view mirror, “The reason we needed something fast, hold on.” He drifted into a side street as cannon shells impacted the ground behind them, “Michiru, where to next?” Michiru looked around for the next node, finding it over on top of one of the supertree structures. She looked for one closer by, finding the last one on top of City Hall. “Ryan, I’ve got bad news.” Ryan did _not_ need bad news at the moment, “What’s up.” He shifted gear, drifting into another side street, desperately trying to lose the skelet-tanks. “Last two are up high; how are you gonna get up there.”

“Nazuna has wings too; she’ll give me a lift.”

“I’m going to do _what_?”

Shirou and his men had made it to the landing craft on time, and as the new skeletals were leaving it, they were boarding it. They made their way inside the loading bay and took up positions along the sidewall, out of sight of anyone looking in. It was too dark outside for them to be seen by any onlookers. The ramp pulled back up, and soon enough, they were on their way to the submarine. “Listen, once inside, we have to hit them fast and hard. Find the control room, stay on comms, let me know if you need help. This task is ours; we either bring down that bubble or die trying. No heroics, and don’t get trigger happy. Think American rules of engagement, do not fire until fired upon.” Flip’s men agreed.

There they waited for the ramp to drop back down.

When it finally did, they were faced with two columns of armored vehicles. As they began to load onto the landing craft, Shirou and the other five beastmen used them as cover to leave in their fake skeletal formation. They made it across the large loading bay to a doorway that appeared to be an access point for the rest of the submarine. As they continued on their way, trying to find anything that’ll give you directions to the shields control room. Two floors up and way down the corridor, they found a sign directing them to the command bridge. Shirou knew this was their best chance so far.

Ryan drifted around another corner, evading the shells, and then another to continue on a straightaway. For a minute or two, it seemed that they had lost the skele-tanks, yet just then, Michiru came on the radio, “Right turn! Right turn!” Ryan obliged as he braked, drifting around the right corner and into a plaza with a roundabout. He got on, hitting the drift all the way around before getting back on the path to the node. Michiru came on the radio, “It’s going to be about five miles ahead of you.” Ryan looked up at the supertree structure and saw the lights signifying the location of the Node. He pushed the pedal down and shifted gears, weaving in and out of abandoned cars at 140 miles per hour.

He slowed down in front of the supertree.

Ryan put it in reverse and pulled the car into an alleyway. He got out, motioning for Nazuna to do the same. Charging up his arms with quantum energy, Ryan looked around the corner to see the skele-tanks approaching. He ignited his arms and rolled out of the alley. Getting up to a kneeling position, Ryan slung two energy balls into each machine, blowing them to pieces in the road. He motioned for Nazuna to join him out of the alleyway. Nazuna gulped down the knot in her throat as she sprouted her wings and picked up Ryan, carrying him up to the top of the Supertree structure. As she was doing so, Ryan began charging up a beam. When they crested the top of the structure, Ryan fired the beam along the roof, taking out the guards, skeletals, helicopter, and finally, the node itself. Nazuna immediately starts flying down as fast as she could the second she saw the node explode. Dropping Ryan back on the ground, the two got back in the car and sped off.

Once again, however, Beowulf forces were following them.

Shirou and his men were close to the command bridge when a voice spoke up from behind them, “Why are skeletals in a Level Three hallway. Doesn’t your coding prohibit this kind of mistake, unless… You’re not skeletals, are you?!” Shirou dropped his gun and ran through his men as he tackled the man whose voice said such things. He grabbed him by the head and hit him against a wall, knocking him out. A group of two more sailors was walking around the corner as Shirou did this. He saw them and ran, then slid towards them… cutting the legs out from underneath one and grabbing and throwing the other down the hallway towards his group. One of the men under his command knocked out that one as Shirou knocked out the other. They dragged the unconscious bodies into a utility closet and locked them inside.

The six of them began to run back downstairs and into the Level Two hallway.

Shirou turned to the men, “We need to get to that command bridge, but we can’t blow our cover. A firefight in here will get us all killed. We’ll be pinned down in crossfire and significantly outnumbered. We need to either switch up the plan or do something more radical. Personally, I’m for something more radical. We get down to the engine room and find a way to set it off, an armory even, we need to detonate this ship.” His men agreed as they started down the stairs once more, still in their skeletal armor, and began heading down the length of the submarine in their phony formation. They found a sign pointing to the reactor and one pointing to the armory. Shirou had a plan, “Here’s the new plan, we get to the arsenal, find some plastic explosives, and then head to the reactor. We set the explosives on the reactor, and then we’ll get out of here, setting them off on our way out.” The men agreed as they had to by the nature of the contract, and they began heading to the armory. Shirou and the men were getting tired of the robot charade; however, it was important they kept it up just a little longer.

The sound of gunfire and screeching tires could be heard across the city.

Ryan swerved to avoid another car as he hooked a right turn down another side street. Two helicopters had gotten on their tail and were chasing them through Anima City. Ryan was desperately trying to escape their rain of fire. Ryan slammed on his breaks forcing the helicopters to overshoot, and ducked the car into a parking garage before they could turn back around. “Ryan, what do we do? They have us pinned now.” Ryan didn’t know what to do anymore; he was scrambling to think of any possible ideas. He knew one way to get them to go away, though, and that was if their target got destroyed. “Nazuna, get out.” He said firmly, “What? Why?” Ryan looked at her and smiled, “I’m getting us out of the situation.” He popped the trunk and, walking over to it, took out the spare tire. He moved the seat back as much as possible and placed the tire on the floorboard. Just then, Michiru came on comms, “The helicopters are lowering to your level; get out of there!” Ryan kicked the tire forward, pushing it onto the gas pedal, and ran to cover as the S7 accelerated down the parking deck. Suddenly a missile came in through the open gate and, streaking through the length of the parking deck, hit the car, demolishing it.

“The helicopters are leaving, but I heard an explosion. Are you two alright?”

Ryan got on the radio, “Yeah, we’re alright, just had to ditch the car, so they thought we were dead.” Nazuna turned to Ryan, concerned, “Now what? We don’t have a means of getting there!” Ryan smirked, “You got wings, doncha?” Nazuna didn’t like the idea, but there wasn’t any other choice at that point. She had to carry him a few miles over to the top of City Hall. Soon the two were airborne, Nazuna following the light of the skyscraper to reach the node. “Exciting day, huh?” Ryan asked her with a slight chuckle. “Yeah, tell me about it. I can’t believe this is happening. Everything feels like a vivid nightmare. Have you ever seen anything like this before?” Ryan laughed, “Of course! I was in the military; I’m used to cities ablaze and multiple casualties. I just wish that this type of shit didn’t come to Anima, though. I hoped that I didn’t need to do what I did. I dreamed that I could have just been Josh MacMann forever.” Nazuna grew bittersweet, “Yeah, I’m not going to lie, I miss Josh, but this Ryan guy is growing on me. He’s redeeming himself.” Ryan smiled happily, “Hopefully, after this is all over, I can continue to grow on you… on all of you. I’m thinking about staying in Anima.” Nazuna felt a little fuzzy inside, “Watch it, wouldn’t want to have to drop you for being a mushy doofus. Not when we’re almost there, at least.” Ryan laughed, “Hey, at the risk of getting dropped, when this is all over, would you want to grab dinner sometime?” Nazuna blushed, “Woah, slow your roll! We still need to get out of here alive… but sure, I’d like that.”

Ryan felt ready to get this over with as they approached the final node, which was surprisingly clear of hostiles. “Naz, just drop me off and get out of here. I’ve got a bad feeling about how it’s very unguarded compared to the other ones.” Nazuna flew under the helipad and up to the roof, “Ready?” Ryan charged up his powers, “Ready.” She flew up, and he shot a beam across the top of City Hall, destroying everything on it, except the node. Nazuna then dropped off Ryan on the roof as he handed her his headset. “Take care, and stay safe.” She nodded and flew off into the distance, reaching out to Michiru over the radio. Michiru came in, and they agreed to meet up back at the co-op. Ryan, on the other hand, walked up to the node investigating it. He put his hand up to it and charged energy into it. Many skeletals were running up the stairs to the roof, having been previously defending Lafette. However, when Ryan pulled his hand away and the node shut down, all of them fell, their AI shutting down. All of the unmanned, A.I.-based war machines powered down and ceased to be across the whole city.

Shirou, however, didn’t know this had happened.

The group of six had taken the plastic explosives from the armory and were headed to the reactor when suddenly they began taking fire; ducking into cover, they all started shooting back. One of the men under Shirou’s command asked, “How the hell did they know?!” Shirou took of the stuffy skeletal helmet, “I don’t know, but the gig’s up now. We need to leave before we become boxed in; fight to the front!” Shirou got up and began to run and gun his way to the cargo bay area about half the ship's length away from them. The submarine's alarm started going off. As they ran down the hallway, they could see random skeletals, powered down and on the ground… in fact, _all_ of the skeletals they saw were turned off. Shirou didn’t know how this had happened but didn’t care either, the skeletal force had shut down, and that’s how they knew he and his men were imposters. They ran to the front where the cargo bay was, occasionally having to gun down an armed sailor or two. Shirou opened the bulkhead to the cargo bay as bullets impacted his location. They were pinned down in the hallway as a heavy machine gun began laying down fire through the door.

Shirou, once again, had a plan.

“Get up to the command bridge; we’re going to take this ship hostage.” They all began to run and gun their way back up the stairs, eventually reaching the Level Four hallway. Following the signs to the bridge, they began to run even faster. As they reached the door to the command room, Shirou tried to open the bulkhead, but it was locked down tight. “Give me one of those plastic explosives and a detonator.” The man carrying the explosives gave them to Shirou, who ripped off the adhesive protector and pasted them to the bulkhead. “Get back, boys.” They all took cover as Shirou detonated the explosives blowing the door off its hinges. He ran up to the hole with his machine gun ready and pointed it inside. There was no one armed, from what he could tell. He climbed through the hole and into the command bridge. Turning to his men, he said for two to watch the hallway for anyone who might try and sneak up on them and the other three to make sure the command staff didn’t try anything. Shirou himself went across all of the panels to try and find the one controlling the shield array.

“Where’s the shield controls?!”

The captain shakily responded, “We don’t have them here; they’re on General Lafette.” Shirou didn’t have time for these games, “I don’t believe you, WHICH ONE OF THESE COMPUTERS CONTROLS THAT SHIELD?!” The captain, even more frightened, once again repeated, “I swear! General Lafette is the only one who has them! PLEASE BELIEVE ME!” Shirou scoffed and began looking through all the stations as gunfire erupted in the hallway; he’d have to be fast. He searched around as quickly as he could, but the captain was right; the controls were not here. He heard a scream; looking out into the hallway, one of his men had gotten himself shot. “Shit, we’re leaving! Hand me those plastic explosives!” The explosives guy threw the second charge to Shirou, who stripped the adhesives and slapped them to the wall across from the door. Telling everyone to get out, he and his men hid behind the computer stations as Shirou detonated the explosives revealing a hole that would allow them to drop down into the bay. He motioned for his men to jump ship as he went and provided cover fire for the two in the hallway. One of them was dead from his wounds, but the other ran into the bridge and jumped out the hole. With the men gone, Shirou felt free to use his super strength to pull the metal around the door over the hole so that no one could get through. He then ran across the room and jumped into the bay. He surfaced and yelled to his remaining men to swim to the port, not the beach.

Meanwhile, at City hall…

Ryan heard the sound of a helicopter taking off, which confused him since they should have all gone down. But then it clicked, a living being operated this one… not an A.I. Ryan ran back to the roof, trying to get a bead on where it went, knowing it could be Lafette’s. He reached the roof again, but in the darkness of the night, he couldn’t see the aircraft; they must have turned off the lights. Ryan headed back down the stairs and then noticed a sign that said “Mayor’s Office.” He went up to the door and knocked, but doing so caused the door to open up. Pushing the door all the way open, there was no one inside. He went over to Mayor Rose's desk and saw an envelope titled, “To whoever finds this.” Opening it, he read what was inside. “General Gerald Lafette has been holding me hostage in my own office; if you’re reading this, he’s taken me somewhere else. I don’t know how much more I can write about it, but please inform Shirou Ogami to attempt to locate me. I don’t know if anyone else will be able to find me. Regards, Barbara Rose?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel okay about how this turned out... kind of feels like a whole bunch of running around and not much actually going on. Hopefully you didn't see it like that.


	17. Ransom and Reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mayor Rose is being ransomed by General Lafette.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like I probably could have made this longer and more spread out, but it hit the four word doc page quota I've been using for all the chapters. I just feel like there's more I could've expanded upon.

The A.I. systems controlling all of the robotic enforcers had been shut down with the destruction of the nodes around Anima City. Yet, General Lafette was still at large, and the shield was still up around the city. Shirou and the four remaining enforcers from the Family had swum back to the port and walked to the fishery building that Giuliano Flip was using as a base of operations. Flip was pleased to see that all but one of his men had survived. Now not only did he still have most of his assets, but he also had one week of amnesty from the law. For Flip, this was a win-win outcome, “Until our paths cross again, Ogami.” Shirou walked out of the building and opened his phone, seeing the words ‘Missed Call: Barbara Rose’ on the screen. The jamming was gone, then; he could use his phone again to communicate. He called Barbara’s number back.

But Ryan was the one who answered.

“What’s the meaning of this?! If you’ve done something to Barb-” Shirou began to berate Ryan until Ryan cut him off with some worrying news. “Shirou, General Lafette has taken her hostage. I heard the helicopter leave City Hall, but there wasn’t anything I could do. I’m in her office; she left a note saying to get you to go find her and left her phone, I’m assuming, so that the person who found the note could make the call to you.” Shirou had ice flow through his veins at the report. He knew he needed to get to City Hall and try to track her scent… if it was still there. “Ryan, do you have any idea where Lafette would take her?” Ryan thought for a moment but didn’t have the slightest clue, “My best guess is the submarines.” Shirou knew this wasn’t accurate; he’d just come from there, he would have seen the helicopter overhead, but there never was one. “Shirou, one more thing… knowing Lafette, this whole thing could be a ruse, and Rose is already dead.”

Shirou didn’t even want to think about that possibility.

“Ryan, go back to the co-op; we can regroup there,” Shirou told Ryan as he hung up. Ryan then looked through the contacts to find Michiru’s number, calling her. “Mayor Rose?” the voice on the other end spoke. “Listen, Michiru, I don’t have time to explain the situation, but I need to get back to the co-op. Shirou’s on his way now, but I don’t know where to go from my City Hall.” Michiru was confused at why Ryan had Barbara’s phone but agreed to pick him up anyway. Michiru, however, was excited that she could finally see Shirou again. She had been, in the back of her mind, worried to death over what was happening to him. Nevertheless, Michiru went to the roof, morphed into her wings, and flew over to city hall to get Ryan. Flying over the city, Michiru could see the flames and smoke billowing out of multiple locations. Anima City was looking more and more like a warzone every hour that went by, it seemed.

Landing on the roof to City Hall, she met back up with Ryan.

Ryan looked troubled, forlorn even. Michiru asked why, but he only said that he’d tell her on the way back to the co-op. Picking up the fox man, she began to fly back over to the co-op. Ryan started to say to her what happened and why he was scared for the Mayor. “After Nazuna dropped me off and I dismantled the last node, I heard a helicopter take off. I knew it must have been an essential member of Beowulf as a human, not an A.I., was flying the helicopter. I went down to the mayor’s office, but no one was there. Just a note and her phone sat on her desk. If Lafette has her, then she’s in grave danger. Lafette doesn’t take prisoners he doesn’t plan on exploiting. If Lafette has her in his custody, he may be trying to use her as bait. Lafette is an asshole, but he isn’t stupid. He plays his cards very carefully.” Michiru had a knot in her stomach after hearing this. Just then, they landed at the co-op.

Nazuna ran out and hugged them both.

Shirou had just gotten back as well, having decided to take a car and not walk. The four of them sat down in the living room and discussed what happened to Mayor Rose. “So you’re saying you _didn’t_ see a helicopter fly over as you were heading back from the sub? And that _Lafette_ controls the shield?” Ryan asked Shirou, who responded with a solemn nod. “Personally, I don’t understand why he would take Barbara without some kind of ransom note… a way to get a hold of him, you know?” Nazuna was concerned it seemed so mysterious. Michiru thought about it for a second, “Maybe he plans on contacting us? Maybe it’s not us who should go after him.” Ryan thought about this and was worried, “What if he’s going to go after us? If that’s the case, we need to leave the co-op, now.” Shirou wasn’t so sure about that, “Sure, he may suspect we’re at the co-op, but there’s a whole city where we could be… you three _did_ hide in a subway train and were never found, after all.” Ryan was confused, “If he wants _me_ , why would he take Barbara? Why not someone else or just no one at all and fucking come get me?”

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.

The four froze. Ryan volunteered to go down there and see who it was. He looked through the peep-hole, seeing no one. Opening the door a crack, he still couldn’t see anyone but found an envelope on the welcome mat. Ryan grabbed it and closed the door, locking it back immediately. Walking back upstairs, the three others asked what had happened. Ryan showed them the envelope, saying that it was the only thing outside. He opened it to find a handwritten letter, similar to the one in Barbara Rose’s office. Ryan skimmed it, then gave it to Shirou, who began to dictate it out loud.

“Dear ‘heroes,’ this is an ultimatum. Bring me Fuller, and in return, you can have your mayor. Fail to do so, and every hour on the hour, my associates will shoot electricity directly through her brain until she inevitably passes away. It would be such a shame for a great mind like hers to be wasted so needlessly. Fuller must show up alone, or else the deal is off. Meet me in ‘Rabbit Town.’ Upon delivery of my asset, she will be released to live out the rest of her life in peace. Thank you for your cooperation, sincerely, Gerald Lafette.”

Stone cold, Ryan got up and left for the door.

Shirou grabbed him by the shoulders, “What do you think you’re doing?” Ryan turned around, defying Shirou’s grip, “I’m going to go fucking kill this bastard… in the most painful way possible. I already know it’s a trap, but I plan on winning.” Shirou gave a half-smirk, “I’m going with you.” Michiru stood up, “Me too!” Nazuna rolled her eyes at all of them, “Fine… if you’re gonna twist my arm this hard, may as well go.” Shirou almost had a full smile now, “It appears we’ve got your back, Ryan. What’s your plan?” Ryan smirked as he thought through what he wanted to do. “I thought that I show up alone and you three stick to the roofs; when Lafette makes the exchange, you guys make sure Barbara is safely away, I kill everyone, Beowulf is no longer a threat. I’m going to enjoy watching Lafette suffer… sorry if that’s edgy, but I truly will.” Shirou laughed, “That’s a rough plan. I’m sure we can all talk through it a little more while we’re heading over.”

Slapping Ryan on the back, Shirou led the other three out, heading to Rabbit Town.

As they walked, they decided on a new plan, where Nazuna would be in charge of removing Rose from the situation while Michiru kept watch and Shirou and Ryan took down the Beowulf troops. Then Michiru would use her extendable arms to wrap Lafette up, and then they would bring him to answer for his crimes. In theory, it was a sound plan. They all agreed as they approached Rabbit Town, the uninvited three hanging back. Michiru and Nazuna flew up to roofs of buildings while Shirou lurked in the shadows. Ryan was on his own, walking down the main street towards Lafette.

That’s when he saw the General.

“Ryan, my boy, it’s good to see my first successful beastman project again. I trust you’re getting along fine?” Ryan didn’t respond. “Come on, that’s no way to treat your dear old dad. You were always like a son to me, Ryan. I _love_ you! Come here, and let's go home, talk over what happened.” He was holding mayor rose at gunpoint… Ryan put his hands up and began walking forward towards Lafette, who continued talking. “And _speaking of family_! Your _brothers_ were kind enough to come and see you; after all… _it’s been too long_.” Lafette smiled sickeningly as two figures walked out of the shadows on either side of the street. Ryan had fear strike through his heart… 08 _and_ 09\. “Hello, _brother_!” One said. The other put his hands on his hips, “Long time no see, _07_!” Lafette laughed and grinned widely, “I’m sure you three will have a _lot_ to talk about on our way back to Beowulf!” Ryan was stone-faced, but a smirk slowly grew on his face, “Mr. Lafette, I would appreciate it if you could let the kind lady go. Only then can we let this _reunion_ begin. I, for one, _cannot wait_ to discuss lost time with my _dear brothers_.”

Lafette let Rose go, putting away his gun.

Rose ran past Ryan, who began walking towards Lafette. 08 and 09 started walking past Lafette towards Ryan. 08 grinned widely, eyes wide, “Honestly, _brother_ , it’s a _pleasure_ to see you again.” Ryan shook his head, “On the contrary, _brother_ , the _pleasure is all MINE_!” Ryan ignited his arms and spun, shooting balls of energy in a wide spread towards 08 and 09; the two jumped and dodged, 08 igniting his left arm and right eye, 09 igniting his mouth and hands. The three stood in a triangle now, all itching to fight. Lafette cackled, “Ah, brotherly love, how RICH. 08? 09? _DESTROY HIM_.” Ryan grinned ear to ear, irises beginning to glow blue-orange. “ _LET’S KICK IT!_ ”

08 used his arm to create a whip out of energy, bringing it down on Ryan, who grabbed it and pulled 08 into his incoming fist, clotheslining the man as 09 charged up a beam from his mouth and shot it towards Ryan, who, crossing his arms, created a barrier that blocked it. 08 ran at Ryan, but he tilted back and to the side, ricocheting the beam from 09 towards 08, hitting him in the chest and launching him back into a building. Ryan then spun away from the beam, tossing a ball of energy into 09, just as 08 started running back over to Ryan. Ryan ducked and slid under 08, grabbing his leg and throwing him into 09. Ryan put his hands together, charging up the chain lightning as 08 jumped back up and threw his energy whip at Ryan, grabbing one of his arms. Ryan grabbed the whip with his other arm and pulled it taught, sending his own energy down through it towards 08 as 09 teleported behind Ryan and grabbed his neck. Ryan kicked 09’s right knee in, and the man fell as 08 charged up his right eye, sending a beam right at Ryan. Ryan grabbed 09 and used him as a shield, which caused 08 to stop the beam preventing his comrade from being hurt. During this, 09 had used his quantum energy to heal his knee, and he grabbed Ryan, throwing him over himself and into the ground. Ryan rolled to dodge 08’s whip as he jumped back to his feet, creating a barrier with both of his arms. Ryan’s wall kept getting hit as 08 and 09 began approaching him. Ryan expanded it and expanded it until he shot the barrier itself into 08 and 09. Ryan then launched himself 10 feet in the air pulling his arms apart and summoning several crystalline energy shards around him. 08 and 09 got up, but only to have the shards rained down upon them, forcing them to dodge. 08 got hit in the leg by one, wincing in pain. Ryan landed back on the ground and spun, winding up a flurry of discs that he threw into the others.

08 blocked, but 09 got hit by one sending him sliding back about 5 feet. Recovering 09 went on the offensive, shooting small energy projectiles rapidly at Ryan as 08 teleported behind him and attempted to put the whip around Ryan's neck. Ryan dodged and picked up 08 yet was hit in the chest by 09’s mouth beam, throwing him back. Jumping back on his feet, Ryan attempted to charge up his own beam but was kicked in the head by 08. 08 tried to hit the downed Ryan with his whip, but Ryan rolled out of the way, sending a beam into 09, who was charging at Ryan, sending him back into a building. Ryan moved again as the whip landed where he used to be. 08 tried to pick it up again, but Ryan stepped on it, causing 08 to fall over. 09 came running back at Ryan, slinging discs of his own at the man but missed… all but one. One of the discs sliced into Ryan's ankle, causing him to bend over. 08 took advantage of this by using his whip to grab onto one of Ryan's arms. 09 then ran over to put Ryan into a chokehold, but Ryan shot a sphere of energy into 09’s stomach, sending him back across the ground. Ryan struggled to get the whip off; it burned. Running out of options and time, he put his hands together and spread them apart, creating the chain lightning that formed into a ball; he pulled back, and… suddenly… his other arm was caught in searing hot pain as it was yanked away from his other hand. 09 held it with a lasso on a pole as 08 had his other hand wrapped up in the whip. 08 and 09 slowly moved closer to the subdued Ryan until they could wrap both his arms in the electrical lasso.

Ryan was livid, he needed a way out, but there was none.

Lafette walked up to the defenseless Ryan, “You know, I _did_ get the reports of how you were able to break out of our previous quantum canceling cuffs. So with these lassos, we decided to up the cancellation effect threefold. You won’t be able to get out of it this time, 07. You fought well, but 08 and 09 proved to be the superior variations of our project in the end. We have no more use for you, 07. You’re dust in the wind. Once back in New Mexico, your deactivation will be finalized, and your pitiful existence will be finally snuffed out.” Ryan sneered at Lafette, looking around but only seeing the maniacal smirks of 08 and 09 on either side of him, “You really think that I’m just going to let this happen, Lafette? Do you really-” Lafette turned on a dime, “BOY! _You DON’T have a CHOICE_! Who in the _hell_ do you think you are, calling all the shots?! _I OWN YOU._ Just because you made friends with these _disgusting_ animals you are trying so desperately to help doesn’t mean that’s who you _are_. You’re a GOD DAMN _WEAPON_. And a weapon with a heart is no weapon of mine. Make him nice and _coherent_ for me, 08.” Lafette walked away, laughing to himself.

“You are a _disgrace to LIFE_.”

Lafette, 08 and 09, turned around to see a 10 foot tall glowing blue wolf watching them from the street's end. “You think you’re so powerful, but you are _weak_. Soon you’ll understand that you _have never_ called the shots. But are just a _pawn_ in the game of life! You _disgusting animal_.” Lafette rubbed his hands together, “Oh, _NOW_ things are _INTERESTING._ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope the fight between the "Quantum Bros Killing Co." was fun to read. I know I loved writing it.


End file.
